Filenews 1 September 2025
On September 20, a Chinese container ship is set to sail from Qingtao to European ports via the Russian Arctic Sea. The ship named Istanbul Bridge has a capacity of 4,890 standard containers.
"Although this vessel is small by today's standards for the Suez and Panama canals, it is an important size in view of the operation of the Chinese Arctic service," the High North News website reported.
Chinese shipping company Haijie Shipping has announced that it is launching the China-Europe Arctic Express service in September.
It is a sea route that will connect the port of Nigbo-Susan in China with European ports through the Arctic. The "Arctic Express" aims to transport goods to the UK's largest container port, Felixstowe, and then to Rotterdam, Hamburg and Gdansk, Poland.
The travel time is expected to be reduced from 28 days to 18 days, compared to the Suez Canal. In addition, interest has increased significantly due to the security problems in the Red Sea caused by the Houthi attacks and the shift to the longest sea route around South Africa's Cape of Good Hope.
Haijie is not the only Chinese shipping company operating in the Arctic. Newnew Shipping Line, too, has been operating in the Arctic since 2023 and promotes trade with Russia. What's new is that Haijie Shipping focuses on transporting goods to Western Europe without stopping at a Russian port.
To keep the Arctic Express running year-round, Haijie Shipping could order Russian icebreakers. This would provide Russia with at least part of the activities of the Chinese "Arctic Silk Road".
Transportation of Russian LNG
One of these routes, the so-called Northeast Passage near Russian land, is already being developed by China and Russia as a trade and sea route for the transport of raw materials. "This particularly includes transporting gas from the Yamal Peninsula in western Siberia to China," says political scientist Klaus-Peter Saalbach of Osnabrück University, author of a study on the geostrategic importance of the Arctic.
However, this passage is for the time being minimally functional. "At the moment, only a few dozen ships travel there annually." In fact, cooperation between China and Russia on the Northern Sea Route amounts to controlling both states over which other states are allowed to use the Arctic Route in the future, says Michael Paul, a maritime security expert at the Berlin-based Wissenschaft und Politik (SWP) institute and author of several studies on the geostrategic importance of the Arctic and the Chinese presence there.
China has already built a huge embassy in Iceland, which suggests a strong Chinese presence in the future.
Trump's reaction - It is therefore understandable that Trump could react extremely allergic to this. It did the same with regard to the Panama Canal, whose two ports at the entrance and exit were controlled by Chinese companies. But these have now been sold to a U.S. consortium.
President Trump is also flirting with the idea of putting Greenland under U.S. control — a project he already pursued during his first term and which also corresponds to general U.S. policy since the end of World War II.
Greenland has significant deposits of rare earths, which are essential for the production of high-tech products such as smartphones, electric motors and batteries. Metals, diamonds, coal, and uranium are also found in the Arctic. Japan and South Korea also want to use the Northern Sea Route in the future, but they don't want to submit to the Russian or Chinese regimes," says Paul.
Competition on the Northern Sea Route
As part of the Trump-Putin talks in Anchorage, rumours even circulated that Russian icebreakers could be used to transport LNG to Alaska. President Vladimir Putin even showed interest in cooperation in the Arctic to President Donald Trump.
At the same time, the melting of the ice makes it easier to exploit the region's vast mineral resources. As early as 2008, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) estimated that about 30% of the world's unexplored natural gas reserves and 13% of unexplored oil reserves are in the Arctic. Russian experts pointed to joint extraction and processing of rare earths as a way to counter China's dominance.
For Beijing, however, the plan to bet on the Arctic Sea as a non-Arctic state, leaving behind Russia and the United States, seems to be working. The even faster approach to Hamburg and Rotterdam is a lightning move. Even the southern corridor of the Silk Road, both by land and sea, lags behind in terms of sales of goods in Europe.
In July and August 2024, the ice of the Arctic Sea was broken by three heavy icebreakers: the Xuelong 2, the Ji Di, and the Zhong Shan Da Xue Ji Di.
The three ships made an unhindered crossing of the North Sea, both practically and symbolically: China will be present in the Arctic and will be there permanently. The message was heard: "The Arctic is becoming Chinese," was the headline of the Russian state news agency RIA Novosti in October 2024.
Since the early 2000s, China has been involved in the Arctic, says Michael Paul. "Beijing, of course, faced a defensive stance from Denmark and the United States. Both countries fear too much Chinese influence, Paul says. "Since then, Beijing has turned to other countries in the region, especially Russia. However, Russia has been weakened by the war in Ukraine – and so it has increasingly fallen into the role of a junior Chinese partner in the Arctic."
Ecological problems
China, like other countries in the region, is active in the Arctic despite climate change, which is particularly noticeable there. According to the Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research, the Arctic region is warming four times faster than the rest of the planet. The result: The Arctic ice sheet is melting at an ever-increasing rate. If, as currently predicted, the ice will have largely subsided during the summer months between 2030 and 2040, it is likely that three new shipping routes from the Pacific to the Atlantic will be created there, allowing existing routes to be shortened, in some cases significantly.
"The Arctic is already under severe pressure. Its waters are warming and acidifying faster than the global average due to global climate change. Therefore, the passage of container ships through the Arctic is a cause for concern," said Sian Pryor, senior adviser at the Clean Arctic Alliance, about the planned Arctic Express.
Although a shorter route could lead to lower CO2 emissions, the Arctic remains largely unexploited for transit shipping due to the risks posed by sea ice. Large fuel oil spills, negative impacts on wildlife, and increasing underwater noise could disrupt the ecosystem.
"Before developing a new shipping route through the Arctic, an impact assessment should be carried out and strategically considered to ensure the highest level of environmental protection," warned Sian Pryor.
Military interest
The Arctic is also of significant military interest. Since it represents the shortest route between Russia and North America, the missiles would fly over this area in the event of war.
At Tula Air Base, which was renamed the Pitufik space base nearly two years ago, the U.S. operates an early warning system for possible missile attacks from Russia or other regions. It also serves as a refuelling station for US and NATO aircraft.
Since 2021, warships sent from Beijing have been repeatedly found there. In 2022, the U.S. recorded a fleet of Russian and Chinese ships just 160 kilometers off Kiska Island in Alaska – including a Nanchang guided missile destroyer armed with up to 112 cruise missiles.
