CHINA TOPIX

11/22/2024 03:45:23 pm

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China Offers Cooperation With Arctic Kingdom On Vital Projects

(Photo : baidu.com)

Denmark would like to partner and work hand in hand with China in sea route development, fishing and mining in the Arctic region.

This hope for cooperation with the world's trade leader was expressed by Danish Arctic Ambassador Erik Vistrup Lorenzen and Greenlandic Deputy Foreign Minister Kai Holst Andersen in an interview in Beijing on Monday.

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Lorenzen and Andersen are in Beijing to establish trade ties and cooperation in the areas of scientific research, fishing, and mining.

Anderson added that they are in the process of negotiating with two Chinese mining companies to forge a mining partnership in Greenland.

"If this cooperation can succeed, that could be an example for other Chinese companies that want to cooperate with Greenland," said Andersen.

"We are not a mining nation today. But we are definitely a mining nation of the future," Anderson added.

Greenland is part of the Kingdom of Denmark. According to Andersen, 90 percent of Greenland's exports are seafood products. It is looking at China as an important and huge market for their exports.

Andersen expressed hope for more participation from China in various projects in the region including the area of scientific research, more specifically the scientific study of the Arctic ice sheets.

Denmark has set up several research stations in the Arctic region and has spearheaded a number of expeditions in the area with the objective of gaining more knowledge and understanding of the Arctic. To date, China has one established research station in the region - the Yellow River Station.

Another area that the two countries can look into is the exploration of new and shorter commercial routes traversing the Arctic Ocean.

With global warming increasing the temperature in the Arctic area two times faster than any other place on Earth, there is a great possibility that the Arctic ice will all melt totally in the next few decades. An ice-free Arctic could give rise to a shorter and safer route.

A shorter route via the Arctic Ocean from China to its European trading partners will be beneficial to China since it will result in lower shipping costs, according to energy strategies researcher Xia Yishan from the Chinese Academy of Social Science

Cheaper shipping cost would in turn lead to a reduction in the cost of natural resources in the region and provide greater ease in transporting these resources, according to Jia Xiudong, China Institute of International Studies international affairs researcher.  Although China does not have any coastline on the Arctic Sea it wants to establish ties and show cooperation with countries in the region.  

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