The Significance of the Silk Road on Ice

It is reported that when the President met with Medvedev in Moscow on July 4 this year, the two sides formally put forward this idea: "We will cooperate on the Arctic waterway to jointly build the Silk Road on ice."

Of course, if we push the timeline a little further, we will find that this concept has been brewing for at least two years.

In 20 15, the prototype of the "silk road on ice" appeared in the joint communique of the twentieth meeting between Chinese and Russian prime ministers. At that time, it was expressed as "strengthening cooperation in the development and utilization of northern sea lanes and conducting research on Arctic shipping".

In the communiqué of the 2nd1joint meeting, the expression was changed to "study the prospect of jointly developing the transportation potential of the northern sea route";

This framework has become clearer through the "Belt and Road" international cooperation summit forum held in May this year. Putin made it clear: "I hope China can use the Arctic waterway to connect the Arctic waterway with the Belt and Road."

"Ice" is obviously the Arctic Ocean; The so-called "ice" is to open the Arctic waterway through the Arctic Ocean to Europe; The "Silk Road on Ice" is a shipping channel that crosses the Arctic Circle and connects the three economic centers of North America, East Asia and Western Europe.

It should be noted that what we generally call the Arctic waterway includes the "northeast waterway" and the "northwest waterway", both of which can connect the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean through the Arctic Ocean; Russian invited China to cooperate in the construction of northeast waterway.

This waterway starts from northern northwest Europe in the west and reaches Vladivostok in the east, passing through Barents Sea, Kara Sea, Laptev Sea, Novosibirsk Sea and Bering Strait. It is the shortest sea route connecting Northeast Asia and Western Europe. Students with poor geography can look at the picture below, which is more intuitive.