Russian-Chinese collaboration to establish the Arctic blue economic corridor: challenges and prospects

At the beginning of 2018, China has announced the first-ever formalized version of its Arctic policy and thus incorporated the Arctic shipping lanes into the network of the Belt and Road corridors. For China, the development of commercial navigation in the polar waters is hardly possible without Russia. This paper discusses the major challenges and prospects of collaboration between Russia and China in the establishment of the Arctic Blue Economic Corridor. The study identifies economic, infrastructural, and technological problems of the Arctic exploration, as well as justifies the measures to increase China’s involvement in the development of the Russian Arctic. The author concludes that in the context of the contemporary geopolitical situation in the Arctic and progressive climate change in the High North, the collaboration with China is strategically important for Russia in terms of acquiring investments and technologies for the co-development of transport infrastructure and cargo-generating facilities along the Arctic routes. However, prompt actions are required to create an enabling environment for attracting and protecting Chinese investments.