Abstract
China’s rise to a global economic superpower is one of the most significant megatrends of current times. As a result of the country’s latest global strategy, the Belt and Road Initiative (一带一路), China’s geo-economic outreach is particularly visible in maritime transport. This chapter discusses the making of the Polar Silk Road (冰上丝绸之路)—a shipping corridor consisting of three major sea lanes running through Arctic waters—as an empirical case study to explore China’s involvement in global shipping. In particular, the chapter identifies four categories of corridor-making practices, ways through which Chinese maritime actors are advancing the emerging of a geo-economic space that connects China with Arctic localities. Ranging from physical facilitation to enabling a smooth flow of traffic, these sets of practices are shaped by both the external politico-economic environment and the domestic interplay between the Chinese central government, local governments, and Chinese companies and scholars.
Liisa Kauppila wishes to thank Jenny and Antti Wihuri Foundation for the generous grant that enabled her to write this chapter.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
Originally, in June 2017, only the passage ‘leading up to Europe via the Arctic Ocean’ was explicitly stated to be part of China’s twenty-first Century Maritime Silk Road (State Council of the People’s Republic of China 2017a).
- 2.
The focus on China’s practices is a research strategy; it does not imply that the making of the Polar Silk Road—or any other maritime corridor—is a process undertaken and dictated by Chinese maritime actors only.
- 3.
Use of italics here differs from the original text.
- 4.
Rotterdam, Antwerp, Zeebrugge, Bilbao, Valencia, Madrid, Zaragoza, Marseilles, Vado Ligure, and Piraeus.
References
Adler, E., & Pouliot, V. (2011). International practices. International Theory, 3(1), 1–36.
Aksenov, Y., Popova, E. E., Yool, A., et al. (2017). On the future navigability of Arctic Sea routes: High-resolution projections of the Arctic Ocean and sea ice. Marine Policy, 75, 300–317.
Arctic Council. (2018). Agreements. https://www.arctic-council.org/en/our-work/agreements. Accessed 29 Oct 2018.
Arvis, J. F., Ojala, L., Wiederer, C., et al. (2018). Connecting to compete: Trade logistics in the global economy. The logistics performance index and its indicators. World Bank. Available at: https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/bitstream/handle/10986/29971/LPI2018.pdf. Accessed 6 Nov 2018.
Balmasov, S. (2018). Detailed analysis of ship traffic on the NSR in 2017 based on AIS data. In Paper presented at the Arctic Shipping Forum 2018, Helsinki, Finland, 17 Apr 2018. Available at: http://arctic-lio.com/?p=1215. Accessed 8 Jan 2019.
Beveridge, L., Fournier, M., Lasserre, F., et al. (2016). Interest of Asian shipping companies in navigating the Arctic. Polar Science, 10, 404–414.
BP. (2018). BP statistical review of world energy. June 2018. 67th edn. Available at: https://www.bp.com/content/dam/bp/en/corporate/pdf/energy-economics/statistical-review/bp-stats-review-2018-full-report.pdf. Accessed 6 Nov 2018.
Brady, A. M. (2014). China’s undeclared Arctic foreign policy. Polar initiative policy brief series. Arctic 2014: Who gets a voice and why it matters. Wilson Center. Available at: https://www.wilsoncenter.org/sites/default/files/chinas_undeclared_arctic_foreign_policy.pdf. Accessed 10 Jan 2019.
Braw, E. (2017). China needs to spell out its Arctic ambitions, to ease suspicions. South China Morning Post (21 Nov). Available at: https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2120850/china-needs-spell-out-its-arctic-ambitions-ease-suspicions. Accessed 10 Jan 2019.
BRS Group. (2018). Annual review 2018. Available at: https://it4v7.interactiv-doc.fr/html/brsgroup2018annualreview_pdf_668. Accessed 6 Nov 2018.
Chen, Y. (2018). 我国首艘核动力破冰船揭开面纱——将为海上浮动核电站动力支持铺平道路 (China’s first nuclear-powered icebreaker unveiled – Paving the way for powering offshore floating nuclear power plants) 科技日报 (Science and technology daily)/Xinhuanet (27 June). Available at: http://www.xinhuanet.com/politics/2018-06/27/c_1123041028.htm. Accessed 8 Nov 2018.
Cheng, L. K. (2016). Three questions on China’s ‘Belt and Road Initiative’. China Economic Review, 40, 309–313.
Cheng, A. (2018). Will Djibouti become latest country to fall into China’s debt trap? Foreign Policy (31 July). Available at: https://foreignpolicy.com/2018/07/31/will-djibouti-become-latest-country-to-fall-into-chinas-debt-trap/. Accessed 12 Nov 2018.
Chircop, A. (2007). Climate change and the prospects of increased navigation in the Canadian Arctic. WMU Journal of Maritime Affairs, 6(2), 193–205.
ChosunMedia. (2012). China gains use of another N. Korean port. 11 Sept. Available at: http://english.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2012/09/11/2012091101347.html. Accessed 12 Sept 2014.
Conrad, B., & Kostka, G. (2017). Chinese investments in Europe’s energy sector: Risks and opportunities? Energy Policy, 101, 644–648.
COSCO. (2018). COSCO SHIPPING SPE. Organized seminar for navigation along Arctic Northwest Passage. 14 Mar. Available at: http://www.coscol.com.cn/En/News/detail.aspx?id=11720. Accessed 6 Sept 2018.
Cowen, D., & Smith, N. (2009). After geopolitics? From the geopolitical social to geoeconomics. Antipode, 41(1), 22–48.
Economist. (2014). China and the Arctic: Polar bearings. China pursues its interest in the frozen north. Jul 12. Available at: https://www.economist.com/china/2014/07/12/polar-bearings. Accessed 24 Sept 2018.
European Parliament. (2018). China’s maritime silk road initiative increasingly touches the EU. Briefing of the European Parliament. Mar 2018. Available at: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/BRIE/2018/614767/EPRS_BRI(2018)614767_EN.pdf. Accessed 29 Oct 2018.
FMPRC. (2018). The 8th ministerial meeting of the China-Arab States Cooperation Forum (CASCF) held in Beijing. Available at: https://www.fmprc.gov.cn/mfa_eng/zxxx_662805/t1576621.shtml. Accessed 29 Oct 2018.
FOCAC. (2018a). About FOCAC. https://www.focac.org/eng/ltjj_3/ltjz/. Accessed 29 Oct 2018.
FOCAC. (2018b). Forum on China-Africa Cooperation Beijing Action Plan 2019–2021. https://www.focac.org/eng/zfgx_4/zzjw/t1594399.htm. Accessed 10 Jan 2019.
Fu, C. (2018). Opening session speech given at the 6th Arctic Circle Assembly, Reykjavik, Iceland, 19 Oct 2018.
Gabuev, A. (2016). Friends with benefits? Russian-Chinese relations after the Ukraine crisis. Carnegie Moscow Center. Available at: https://carnegieendowment.org/files/CEIP_CP278_Gabuev_revised_FINAL.pdf. Accessed 9 Jan 2019.
Governments of Japan, the People’s Republic of China and the Republic of Korea. (2017). Joint statement. The Second trilateral high-level dialogue on the Arctic. Tokyo, Japan. 8 June. Available at: http://www.mofa.go.jp/mofaj/files/000263104.pdf. Accessed 3 Nov 2018.
Governments of the People’s Republic of China and the Kingdom of Norway. (2016). Statement of the government of the People’s Republic of China and the government of the Kingdom of Norway on normalization of bilateral relations. Beijing, China. 19 Dec 2016. Available at: https://www.regjeringen.no/globalassets/departementene/ud/vedlegg/statement_kina.pdf. Accessed 9 Jan 2019.
Guo, P., & Yao, L. (2015). 北极治理模式的国际探过及北极治理实践的发展 (International discussion on Arctic governance models and new advances of Arctic governance practice). 国际观察 (International Observations), 5, 56–70.
Hellenic Shipping News. (2018). China’s seaborne trade: A spectacular upwards trend. 26 Apr. Available at: https://www.hellenicshippingnews.com/chinas-seaborne-trade-a-spectacular-upwards-trend/. Accessed 3 Nov 2018.
Hong, N. (2012). The melting Arctic and its impact on China’s maritime transport. Research in Transportation Economics, 35(1), 50–57.
Humpert, M. (2018a). Record traffic on Northern Sea Route as COSCO completes five transits. High North News. 3 Sept. Available at: https://www.highnorthnews.com/en/record-traffic-northern-sea-route-cosco-completes-five-transits. Accessed 2 Nov 2018.
Humpert, M. (2018b). Economic interests may trump shipping safety as Russia seeks to reduce ice-class requirements. High North News (12 Nov). Available at: https://www.highnorthnews.com/en/economic-interests-may-trump-shipping-safety-russia-seeks-reduce-ice-class-requirements. Accessed 13 Nov 2018.
Interview with a Chinese expert on Arctic policy, Qingdao, 8 Mar 2016.
Interview with a Chinese expert on Arctic policy, Shanghai, 2 Mar 2016.
Interview with a representative of a Chinese energy company (personal views), Beijing, 26 Feb 2016.
Interview with a representative of a Japanese shipping company, Tokyo, 26 Oct 2016.
Jiang, J. (2017). Polar attraction. People’s Daily Online (25 Sept). Available at: http://en.people.cn/n3/2017/0925/c90000-9273275.html. Accessed 12 Nov 2018.
Kiiski, T., Solakivi, T., Töyli, J., et al. (2018). Long-term dynamics of shipping and icebreaker capacity along the Northern Sea Route. Maritime Economics & Logistics, 20(3), 375–399.
Kuo, L., & Kommenda, N. (2018). What is China’s Belt and Road Initiative? The Guardian (30 Jul). Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/cities/ng-interactive/2018/jul/30/what-china-belt-road-initiative-silk-road-explainer. Accessed 10 Nov 2018.
Lasserre, F., Beveridge, L., Fournier, M., et al. (2016). Polar seaways? Maritime transport in the Arctic: An analysis of shipowners’ intentions II. Journal of Transport Geography, 57, 105–114.
Li, C. (2014). One Belt and One Road. Asharq Al-Awsat (13 Apr). English translation of the article (full text) written by China’s ambassor to Saudi-Arabia. Available at: https://www.fmprc.gov.cn/mfa_eng/wjb_663304/zwjg_665342/zwbd_665378/t1115855.sht. Accessed 10 Jan 2019.
Liang, Y., & Zhang, S. (2018). Feature: Norway’s Arctic town envisions gateway on Polar Silk Road with link to China. New China/Xinhuanet (10 Mar). Available at: http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2018-03/10/c_137029993.htm. Accessed 29 Oct 2018.
Liu, W. (2014). China in the United Nations. Singapore: World Century Publishing Corporation.
Luttwak, E. (1990). From geopolitics to geo-economics: Logic of conflict, grammar of commerce. The National Interest, 20, 17–24.
Luttwak, E. (1993). The coming global war for economic power: There are no nice guys on the battlefield of geoeconomics. The International Economy, 7(5), 18–67.
Niinistö, S. (2017). Press statement by the President of the Republic of Finland, Sauli Niinistö, on the state visit by the President of the People’s Republic of China on 5 April. 6 Apr. Available at: https://www.presidentti.fi/en/news/press-statement-by-the-president-of-the-republic-of-finland-sauli-niinisto-on-the-state-visit-by-the-president-of-the-peoples-republic-of-china-on-5-april/. Accessed 10 Jan 2019.
Novatek. (2018). NOVATEK shipped first LNG cargos to China. Press release (19 Jul). Available at: http://www.novatek.ru/en/press/releases/index.php?id_4=2528. Accessed 5 Sept 2018.
NSRA. (2018). Northern Sea Route Administration. Traffic statistics 2011–2018. Available at: http://www.nsra.ru/en/operativnaya_informatsiya/grafik_dvijeniya_po_smp. Accessed 10 Nov 2018.
NSRIO. (2018). Northern Sea Route Information Office. Transit statistics 2011–2018. Available at: http://arctic-lio.com/?cat=27. Accessed 10 Nov 2018.
Port of Akureyri. (2019). Cruise ships 2018 – Statistics for visits. https://www.port.is/index.php?pid=65&w=st. Accessed 24 Jan 2019.
Portnews.ru. (2018). Cargo transportation via Northern Sea route can reach 17 million tonnes in 2018. 18 Oct. Available at: http://en.portnews.ru/news/266264/. Accessed 3 Nov 2018.
Pouliot, V. (2015). Practice tracing. In A. Bennett & J. T. Checkel (Eds.), Process tracing: From metaphor to analytic tool (pp. 237–259). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
RIA Novosti. (2014). ‘Сумма’ привлечет CMHI к строительству порта Зарубино (Summa to work with CMHI in constructing the port of Zarubino). 11 Nov 2014. Available at: https://ria.ru/east/20141111/1032705539.html. Accessed 12 Sept 2016.
SCMP. (2015). Chinese shipping firm COSCO plans to launch services to Europe through Arctic Northeast Passage, saving days in travel time. 27 Oct. Available at: https://www.scmp.com/news/china/economy/article/1872806/chinese-shipping-firm-plans-launch-services-through-arctic. Accessed 30 Oct 2018.
Solakivi, T., Kiiski, T., & Ojala, L. (2018). The impact of ice class on the economics of wet and dry bulk shipping in the Arctic waters. Maritime Policy & Management, 45(4), 530–542.
Sørensen, C., & Klimenko, E. (2017). Emerging Chinese-Russian cooperation in the Arctic. Possibilities and constraints. SIPRI Policy paper 46. Available at: https://www.sipri.org/sites/default/files/2017-06/emerging-chinese-russian-cooperation-arctic.pdf. Accessed 8 Jan 2019.
Sparke, M. (2007). Geopolitical fears, geoeconomic hopes, and the responsibilities of geography. Annals of the American Association of Geographers, 97(2), 338–349.
Staalesen, A. (2017). Russian legislators ban foreign shipments of oil, natural gas and coal along Northern Sea Route. The Barents Observer. 26 Dec. Available at: https://thebarentsobserver.com/en/arctic/2017/12/russian-legislators-ban-foreign-shipments-oil-natural-gas-and-coal-along-northern-sea. Accessed 13 Nov 2018.
State Council of the People’s Republic of China. (2015). 国务院关于印发《中国制造2025》的通知 (Announcement on the publication of ‘Made in China 2025’ report). 8 May 2015. Available at: http://www.gov.cn/zhengce/content/2015-05/19/content_9784.htm. Accessed 2 Nov 2018.
State Council of the People’s Republic of China. (2016). The 13th five-year plan for economic and social development of the People’s Republic of China 2016–2020. Available at: http://en.ndrc.gov.cn/newsrelease/201612/P020161207645765233498.pdf. Accessed 2 Nov 2018.
State Council of the People’s Republic of China. (2017a). Vision for maritime cooperation under the Belt and Road Initiative. 20 June 2017. Available at: http://english.gov.cn/archive/publications/2017/06/20/content_281475691873460.htm. Accessed 2 Nov 2018.
State Council of the People’s Republic of China. (2017b). 国务院办公厅转发国家发展改革委商务部人民银行外交部关于进一步引导和规范境外投资方向指导意见的通知 (Announcement on regulations regarding overseas investments by Chinese companies). 4 Aug 2017. Available at: http://www.gov.cn/zhengce/content/2017-08/18/content_5218665.htm. Accessed 2 Nov 2018.
State Council of the People’s Republic of China. (2018). China’s Arctic Policy. 26 Jan 2018. Available at: http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2018-01/26/c_136926498.htm. Accessed 7 Mar 2018.
U.S. Geological Survey. (2008). Circum-Arctic resource appraisal: Estimates of undiscovered oil and gas north of the Arctic Circle. Available at: http://pubs.usgs.gov/fs/2008/3049/fs2008-3049.pdf. Accessed 8 Jan 2019.
Womack, B. (2014). China’s future in a multinodal world order. Pacific Affairs, 87(2), 265–284.
World Bank. (2017). Data catalog. Table 4.2: World development indicators: structure of output. Available at: http://wdi.worldbank.org/table/4.2. Accessed 3 Nov 2018.
Yamal LNG. (2018). About the project. Available at: http://yamallng.ru/en/project/about/. Accessed 28 Oct 2018.
Yip, T. L., & Wong, M. C. (2015). The Nicaragua Canal: Scenarios of its future roles. Journal of Transport Geography, 43, 1–13.
Yu, H. (2017). Motivation behind China’s ‘One Belt, One Road’ initiatives and establishment of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank. Journal of Contemporary China, 26(105), 353–368.
Zeng, X. (2018). Beijing curbs ship scrapping, leaving market to Indian subcontinent. IHS Fairplay (3 May). Available at: https://fairplay.ihs.com/markets/article/4300856/beijing-curbs-ship-scrapping-leaving-market-to-indian-subcontinent. Accessed 13 Nov 2018.
Zeng, Q., Wang, G. W. Y., Qu, C., et al. (2018). Impact of the Carat Canal on the evolution of hub ports under China’s Belt and Road initiative. Transportation Research Part E, 117, 96–107.
Zhong, N., & Liu, M. (2015). Jilin province proposes more transport links across region. 3 Sept. China Daily/Information Office of the People’s Government of Jilin Province. http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/m/jilin/2015-09/03/content_21782513.htm. Accessed 4 Jan 2019.
Zhou, X. (Ed.) (2018). First Chinese-built polar icebreaker to come into use in 2019. Xinhuanet. Available at: http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2018-04/04/c_137088340.htm. Accessed 2 Nov 2018.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2020 Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Kauppila, L., Kiiski, T. (2020). The Red Dragon in Global Waters: The Making of the Polar Silk Road . In: Pongrácz, E., Pavlov, V., Hänninen, N. (eds) Arctic Marine Sustainability. Springer Polar Sciences. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-28404-6_21
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-28404-6_21
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-28403-9
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-28404-6
eBook Packages: Earth and Environmental ScienceEarth and Environmental Science (R0)