The shrinking Arctic ice sheet is opening up new shipping routes for global trade, and China will be one of the main beneficiaries, according to the head of the country’s leading polar research institute.
There are three main shipping routes across the Arctic region – the North East Passage, the North West Passage and the Central Route.
As the ice melts, the North East Passage opens from the end of July for four months or more, while the Central Route opens from the end of August for one month or more, explained Yang Huigen, director-general of the Polar Research Institute of China.
Yang witnessed this for himself last summer, aboard the Chinese icebreaker Xue Long, while leading its fifth official Arctic expedition.
Speaking at the Economist’s Arctic Summit in Oslo on Wednesday, he said the increased accessibility of the Arctic routes will have a considerable effect on sea trade between Europe and Asia, which is considered the world’s busiest trade route.
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Source: China Daily
