Main Directions of Cooperation between the Russian Federation and the People’s Republic of China in the Arctic

The article discusses the main areas of partnership between Russia and China in the Arctic zone, and also highlights the points of contact between the two countries in the Arctic. The national interests of Beijing and Moscow in the researched region are being studied.

Aim. To identify the main areas for cooperation between the Russian Federation and the People’s Republic of China in the Arctic.

The following methodology and methods were used: neo-institutional approach, generalization, synthesis, systems approach, analysis of documents.

Results. The article considers the national interests of Russia in the Arctic, among which the main ones are political and economic: the ensuring of the sovereignty of the country, the mining of the region and the developing of the Northern Sea Route. Chinese interests in the Arctic studied. The author divided them into three groups: economic, geopolitical and ecological. The priority interests are economic ones, despite the fact that the Chinese side is trying to disguise them as ecological interests. The paper identifies six areas for further cooperation between countries in the Arctic: the development of oil and gas fields, the development of the infrastructure of the Northern Sea Route and the increase in the volume and number of transportations along it, the interaction in the field of environmental protection in the Arctic, the development of critical technologies, the organization of tourism, the formation technologies for the extraction of clean energy. In addition to directions for collaboration, the author also touches upon the topic of disagreements between states on various issues, in particular on the issues of the determining of the legal regime of the territories and water areas of the Arctic, as well as the implementation of the Arctic policy by Moscow and Beijing.

Conclusions. The main areas for cooperation between China and Russia in the Arctic are gas and oil production in the Russian Arctic, the supply of hydrocarbons from Russia to China as a priority, as well as the improving infrastructure along the Northern Sea Route and the increasing of the number of transportation along him despite the areas for cooperation identified in the article. Contradictions can also be distinguished between countries, the main of which is the issue of the governance in the Arctic region. But we believe that Russian-Chinese relations on the Arctic issue will only strengthen in the near future, as the parties have many complementary resources for each other.

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