‘Made in China’ shines in cooperative Arctic project

Media lauded China and Russia’s deep cooperation on a liquefied natural gas project in the Arctic during the fourth Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok.

“Made in China” has become a new business card for the Arctic as the project has become an important pivot for the China-proposed “Polar Silk Road,” Hong Kong-based newspaper Takungpao reported on Thursday.

About 85 percent of the project’s modules were constructed by Chinese companies, with seven out of about 30 transport vessels being built and 14 being managed by China.

Infrastructure construction in a high latitude polar region requires high technology and Russia could not have completed the project without China’s help, Dong Yue, a research fellow at the polar research institute of the Ocean University of China in the Shandong Province city of Qingdao, told the Global Times on Thursday.

Launched in December by Russia and China in the Yamal peninsula of northwest Russia, the project is the largest liquified natural gas project in the Arctic region and produces 5.5 million tons of gas a year, dubbed in Chinese “the energy pearl of the Arctic Circle,” the report said.

In July, Novatek delivered the first liquified natural gas to China via the northern sea route alongside the Arctic coast, which drastically cuts delivery time and contributes to Russia’s economic development, Reuters reported.

The new route does not require an icebreaker, which is expected to save about $46 million for the project this year and $200 million a year by 2023, Takungpao reported.