In recent years, the competition between China, the United States and Russia in the Arctic region has become increasingly fierce.

The United States is trying to quickly fill its shortcomings in the Arctic through massive procurement; while China is accumulating knowledge about the Arctic environment through ongoing research activities, gradually expanding its influence and paving the way for the use of future routes.

Faced with this situation, Russia is naturally not willing to lag behind. Russia has repeatedly emphasized that the Northern Passage is its national transportation artery. To this end, Russia has established the world's most powerful icebreaker fleet. Putin also made it clear that the expansion of icebreakers and ice-class ships will be a priority for the shipbuilding industry.

As early as the end of 2023, the Russian government issued a decree stipulating that the transport of oil, natural gas, condensed oil and coal on the Northern Route should begin on March 1, 2026. It must be carried out by Russian-made vessels.

Russia actually proposed this policy for two reasons. One is to develop import substitution for Russia's domestic shipbuilding and provide orders for Russia's domestic shipyards; The second is to firmly hold the Northern Waterway, the core transportation lifeline of the "Ice Silk Road", in our own hands.

However, unexpectedly for Russia, this plan posed huge challenges in the implementation process.

According to Russian reports, the goal of Arctic cargo transportation has never been achieved. Last year, the cargo transportation volume of the Northern Sea Route was only 38 million tons, compared with the original target of 80 million tons. By September last year, Rosatom had lowered its forecast for shipping volume on the Northern Sea Route in 2030 from the initial 200 million tons to 117 million tons. In March this year, Putin himself gave a more cautious figure, that is, 70 million tons to 100 million tons.

The Russian said, The most important problem facing the development of the Northern Sea Route now is the serious shortage of professional fleets.Russia needs a total of 57 ships, but only 27 ships are currently available. Coupled with Western sanctions, Russia is unable to obtain Western technology and parts, resulting in the retirement of old ships and the continuous delay in the construction of new ships. According to the current situation, by 2030, Russia may have less than five icebreakers that can continue to operate, and it will not even be possible to ensure that the Northern Sea Route can sail throughout the year.

Under these circumstances, the Russian Ministry of Transport has made recommendations to the government. It is hoped that the restriction that "transportation on the Northern Sea Route can only be carried out by Russian-made ships" can be postponed until March 2028.

At the same time, the Russian side also held a meeting with China on the issue of cooperation on the Arctic navigation route. After the meeting, an action plan for further development of maritime transport along the north was approved.

The move is intended to develop and approve a roadmap for China-Russia cooperation on the Northern Sea Route, build a sustainable transport corridor, and during the cooperation, it will also introduce modern logistics and technology for the Russian side to help Russia solve current difficulties, improve transport efficiency and promote the development of this major project.

In short, Russia originally wanted to swallow this big cake by itself. But after some practice, I found that this cake still scored half of the Chinese side.

For Russia, choosing China for cooperation is actually a very pragmatic turn. It needs China's investment, technology and efficient shipbuilding and logistics management experience to make up for its shortcomings in production capacity, capital and high-end equipment manufacturing. It can be said that cooperation with China will help it break the bottleneck of the development of the Northern Route, while hedging against the impact of Western sanctions, ensuring the freight volume of the Northern Route, and opening up a stable channel for its energy exports.

For China, participating in the development of the Northern Channel is also of important strategic significance and practical interests.

The Arctic region has very rich oil and gas resources, and the northern route has been fully opened. It is conducive to the extraction of the Arctic region's rich resources, providing China with a large number of new energy resources.This is of far-reaching significance to China's energy security.

In addition, the Northern Railway connects the western Eurasia and the Asia-Pacific region with the shortest shipping route. Ships from Chinese ports to Europe, by the Arctic Railway, save an average of 40% more time than the traditional Suez Canal route, save 10 to 20 days, and reduce fuel costs by about 15%.

At the same time, security issues have also been guaranteed. Traditional routes have to pass through places with many pirates such as the Gulf of Aden and Somalia, and security boats have to be hired to protect them every time; the northern sea route is mainly in Russian waters, and Russia will send patrol boats to ensure safety, so that the fleet no longer has to worry.

Last but not least, the Northern Sea Route is the core of the "Silk Road on Ice" in my country's "Belt and Road" initiative. In the past, the "Belt and Road" was mainly a China-Europe train on land and a Suez route on sea. Now, with the "ice route" in the Arctic, it adds a new channel connecting Asia and Europe.

All in all, Russia's shift from monopolizing to seeking cooperation on the Northern Passage issue is a pragmatic choice after its ambition and reality collide.

The cooperation between China and Russia in the Northern Waterway is essentially to complement each other's advantages and get what they need. Russia uses this to make up for its own shortcomings in capital, technology and production capacity to break the development dilemma; China has obtained a faster and safer new transportation channel between Asia and Europe, and expanded its energy sources and participation space in Arctic affairs. This kind of cooperation, The Northern Railway is gradually transforming from Russia-only national transport arteries into a global ¡°win-win¡± path.