With the official launch of the Chinese-Russian Arctic container routes, trade relations between the two countries are expected to be further strengthened.After years of preparation, this important project was officially opened at the launch ceremony in July, and the first ship is expected to arrive at the port of Shanghai in mid-August.

At present, China-Russia cooperation in the Arctic route is mainly focused on three main aspects: first, through this cooperation to promote the growth of Chinese shipbuilding ship breaker orders, while expanding the capacity of Chinas shipping in the Arctic; second, to bring huge growth potential to the trade relations between the two sides, further promote the development of the maritime industry; third, to make full use of the high summer temperatures, the advantage of the Arctic routes relatively long navigation time.

A recent study published in the journal Nature suggests that due to global warming, the Arctic is likely to celebrate a “Ice-free summer” by 2030, at least 10 years earlier than expected. This offers greater opportunities for maritime navigation through the Arctic. Currently, especially in the northern coast of Russia, the northern navigation route in the North Ice Ocean offshore waters is widely concerned as it is the shortest maritime route connecting the two continents of Eurasia.

In July this year, the launch ceremony of the Chinese-Russian Arctic Route container ferry was held in Moscow. The cargo ship New Arctic Bear, operated by Chinas New Naval Company, departed from the port of St. Petersburg and is expected to arrive in Shanghai after more than 20 days of sailing across the Arctic route. It is that the ship has crossed Japans Zhejiang Strait and is sailing south.

According to the latest data released by the General Administration of Customs of China, the Chinese-Russian trade volume grew by 36.5% compared to the previous seven months of 2023, totalling more than $13.4 billion. The two governments have reached a consensus on plans to increase the trade volume to $200 billion by 2024.

With the continued growth of China-Russia trade, maritime transportation has become an important means of transportation between the two countries, especially the Pacific Corridor, which connects the ports in eastern China and the Russian Pacific coast, has become a key route, mainly for the transportation of commodities such as oil, coal and iron ore.

Overall, with the launch of China-Russia Arctic container routes, China-Russia trade relations are expected to deepen further, bringing new opportunities for economic cooperation and development between the two countries.