Translation. Region: Russian Federal
Source: People's Republic of China in Russian – People's Republic of China in Russian –
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Source: People's Republic of China – State Council News
Moscow, October 1 (Xinhua) – The development of the Arctic and the Northern Sea Route (NSR) have become one of Russia's strategic development priorities, and Russia is counting on cooperation with its Chinese partners to facilitate the development of the Arctic region. This was announced by Murmansk Region Governor Andrei Chibis.
"This route from Asia to the West is 40 percent shorter than through the Suez Canal. Moreover, it's safer in many ways. And, of course, the Russian Federation's goal, as set by the president for the government, companies, and regions, is to make the NSR competitive," Chibis said in an exclusive interview with Xinhua.
He reported that Russia has currently developed detailed plans for the development of the Arctic region and the NSR, including the construction of new icebreakers, improved emergency protection along the route, increased satellite navigation services, and improvements to port facilities and the rail transport network along the NSR.
"This will undoubtedly allow us to make even more active use of the Northern Sea Route and make it a truly comfortable and profitable transport corridor for both our country and our partners," the governor noted.
According to him, Russia expects to expand cooperation with its Chinese partners in the Arctic, primarily in matters of logistics, mineral development, and energy development along the NSR.
The Murmansk deep-water ice-free port is one of the largest ports in the Russian Arctic, with an annual throughput of over 56 million tons, said A. Chibis. This accounts for more than half of the cargo turnover of all Russian Arctic ports. With the development of the NSR, the Murmansk port will play a more important role in Russian-Chinese economic and trade cooperation, the governor is confident.
As A. Chibis noted, the Murmansk Region maintains good cooperative relations and intensive cultural exchanges with regions of China. In recent years, an increasing number of Chinese tourists have been coming to the Murmansk Region to admire the Northern Lights. "We are constantly improving roads and building hotels, and we look forward to welcoming more Chinese tourists," the regional governor emphasized.
He added that trade and economic cooperation between the Murmansk Region and China is also developing steadily. Many of the region's largest companies currently rely primarily on Chinese-made equipment and value it highly.
“Therefore, in my opinion, there is a huge range of cooperation with our Chinese friends – from the emotional cultural sphere to, of course, deep processing, including mineral resources extracted in the Arctic, and the development of logistics, as is happening now,” A. Chibis summarized. –0–
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