Polar Silk Road

China released a white paper on its Arctic policy, pledging cooperative governance and elaborating its vision for a “Polar Silk Road” by developing shipping lanes opened up by global warming extending President Xi Jinping’s signature Belt and Road Initiative .

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China, despite being a non-Arctic state, is increasingly active in the polar region and became an observer member of the Arctic Council in 2013. Among its increasing interests in the region is its major stake in Russia’s Yamal liquefied natural gas project which is expected to supply China with 4 million tonnes of LNG a year.