Slowly but surely, China is carving a foothold through the Arctic
Polar research vessel’s journey along Northwest Passage could pave the way for commercial development in the resource-rich region
China has made progress on its ambition to establish a foothold in the Arctic with the first voyage by its research icebreaker through the frozen waters of the Northwest Passage.
In a journey spanning more than 20,000 nautical miles and 83 days, the Xue Long, or Snow Dragon, made its way through the Canadian Arctic Archipelago before returning to Shanghai on Tuesday.
The polar research vessel is now the first from China to have navigated all three major shipping routes through the Arctic. About a week before starting its crossing of the Northwest Passage, Xue Long travelled through the Central Arctic Route (also known as the Transpolar Sea Route), while in 2012, it navigated the Northern Sea Route (part of the Northeast Passage) along Russia’s Arctic coast.
Experts said the latest voyage could pave the way for commercial development in the resource-rich northernmost region of the world.
“Polar regions, together with the oceans, the internet and space exploration, have become new but strategic areas where China is seeking to develop in the future,” Wang Chuanxing, a polar researcher at Tongji University in Shanghai, said.
