China's interests in Arctic exploitation and the “Polar Silk Road” initiative

In recent years, Arctic exploitation has attracted the interest of many countries around the world, especially China. Beijing pursues an active Arctic policy, cooperates closely with other states in the Arctic exploitation and develops the competence and technology required to do so. International law defines the possibilities and limits of China's involvement in the Arctic exploitation, describes the reasons for Beijing's “Polar Silk Road” initiative and, through the prism of this concept, reveals China's interests in the Arctic from the perspective of strategy, safety, development of the Northern Sea Route and the extraction of oil and gas resources. Cooperation with Russia is considered in the article as the key direction of China's implementation of the “Polar Silk Road” initiative.