China has expressed growing interest in broader use of the Northern Sea Route amid escalating tensions in the Asia-Pacific region, Russian Minister for the Development of the Far East and the Arctic Alexey Chekunkov told Izvestia. Beijing has yet to commit to large-scale investments in the Arctic project but Chinese involvement is steadily increasing: by the end of 2024, the number of voyages conducted by Chinese companies along the Arctic route had nearly doubled compared to previous years.
“For China, the Northern Sea Route is strategically significant, both in terms of economic efficiency, being 40 percent shorter than the southern route, and as a geostrategic alternative in case tensions escalate in the South China Sea,” Chekunkov noted.
