With the help of China, Russia can accelerate the development of the Arctic – expert

Cooperation between Russia and China can accelerate the development of the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation as a whole, believes Alexey Fadeev, Expert of the Arctic Development Project Office, Doctor of Economics, Professor of the Higher School of Industrial Management at Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University.
He commented on the prospects of Russian-Chinese cooperation in the Arctic in connection with the official visit of Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin to China on May 23-24.
"China strives to be present in many corners of the globe, and the Arctic is no exception. China positions itself as a Near-Arctic state, which is enshrined in official documents. The same documents also contain provisions on China's interests in the Arctic. First of all, it is climate change, environmental research, energy and food security," the expert says.
According to him, currently the goods and services offered by China are already being used in the development of the Arctic. So, Chinese drilling rigs are currently operating on the Arctic shelf of Russia. At the same time, China offers competitive equipment that is not inferior in quality to Western equipment.
"If we can use China's huge potential to our advantage, we will get significant benefits from such a partner. Taking into account that we have historically good relations with this state," Fadeev said.
In his opinion, Chinese expansion, in a good sense of the word, will complement Russia's existing capabilities and will speed up the process of Arctic exploration.

Alex Shishlo for Rough&Polished