Sino-Russian Sub-Regional Cooperation in the Far East and Arctic: From “Border Economic Belt” to “Strategic Cooperation Engine”

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Teachers and students from Ocean University of China visited and conducted research in Petrozavodsk, Russia, and jointly discussed Arctic cooperation, in 2024. Photo: Li Shaoqing

The Arctic Institute China Series 2025

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In the past decade, the development of the Far East has resonated with the continuous enhancement of China-Russia relations. A series of initiatives of mutually beneficial cooperation carried out by China and Russia centered on the local cooperation between Northeast China and the Russian Far East constitutes one of the endogenous driving forces of China-Russia relations. As an important region on the northward route of the Belt and Road Initiative, the Far East is a crucial area for China and Russia to build the “Polar Silk Road.” The Sino-Russian cooperation forms a transportation corridor of the Eurasian continent and the main artery of energy transportation realizes “connectivity”, expands cooperation in the fields of economy, trade, and investment, and deepens cooperation in the energy field. It is also one of the priority directions to support the China-Russia strategic partnership and promote practical cooperation. The sub-regional cooperation between China and Russia in the Northeast and Far East regions has formed a “strategic stabilizer” for bilateral relations. This means that through deeply intertwined and mutually beneficial substantive cooperation and institutional arrangements at the sub-regional level, a “shock-absorbing layer” and “ballast stone” have been constructed for the macro-level strategic relations, enabling them to maintain stability and development in a complex environment. Significantly reduce the possibility of derailment or significant fluctuations in the bilateral relations between China and Russia.

The “strategic stabilizer” role of the China-Russia sub-regional cooperation was clearly demonstrated in the specific implementation of the cooperation documents released in 2018. In November 2018, the Plan for China-Russia Cooperation and Development in the Russian Far East (2018-2024) (hereinafter referred to as the Development Plan (2018-2024)) was officially approved by both China and Russia. Compared with the Outline of the Cooperation Plan between Northeast China of the People’s Republic of China and the Far East and Eastern Siberia Regions of the Russian Federation (2009-2018), which expired in 2018, the classification of specific cooperation projects in the Development Plan (2018-2024) is more refined and clearer, and the implementation coordination mechanism is more complete. The Development Plan (2018-2024) expired in 2024. What is the effect of its implementation? What progress has been made in the cooperation between China and Russia in the Far East and Arctic? What are the development directions of China-Russia Arctic cooperation?

Complementary Sub-regional Cooperation between China and Russia

Cooperation between China and Russia in the Far East and Arctic is complementary. From Russia’s perspective, the Arctic region contributes 10% of its GDP and 20% of its total exports,¹⁾Eugene Rumer, Richard Sokolsky, and Paul Stronski. (2021) Russia in the Arctic—A Critical Examination, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. 29 March, 2021, https://carnegieendowment.org/research/2021/03/russia-in-the-arctica-critical-examination?lang=en. Accessed on 25 April, 2025 serving as an important strategic resource base and an economic growth engine for Russia. Russia emphasizes the economic potential of the Far East and Arctic as well as the regions’ strategic significance for national security. In recent years, Russia has issued a number of national strategies and policies related to the development of these regions. Both the Basic National Policy of the Russian Federation in the Arctic Region until 2020 and the Basic National Policy of the Russian Federation in the Arctic Region until 2035 regard the Arctic as the main resource base for Russia’s economic growth.²⁾Klimenko, E. (2020) Russia’s new Arctic policy document signals continuity rather than change. Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, 6 April, 2020. https://www.sipri.org/commentary/essay/2020/russias-new-arctic-policy-document-signals-continuity-rather-change. Accessed on 12 April 2025 From China’s perspective, the Northeast region is an important gateway for China’s opening up to the North. Its strategic position and role in strengthening regional cooperation in Northeast Asia and connecting the domestic and international dual circulation are becoming increasingly prominent. At the same time, it also shoulders the historical mission of regional revitalization. Therefore, China’s strategy for revitalizing Northeast China and Russia’s strategy for developing the Far East and the Arctic have common goals and complementary needs. The complementarity of opening up and cooperation between China and Russia is increasingly enhanced.

Year	Trade Volume (in hundreds of millions of US dollars)	Growth rate (%)
2021	1468.8	35.8%
2022	1905.7	29.3%
2023	2320	4.9%
2024	2448.195	1.9%

The Development Plan (2018 – 2024) has established three key directions for China-Russia bilateral cooperation from 2018 to 2024, mainly including the following three points:

In the field of transportation and logistics, China and Russia jointly implement international transportation corridor projects. Through the ports in the Primorsky Krai, the transportation of goods from the northeastern provinces of China is carried out, and a series of cross – border river – crossing bridges are constructed. First, develop the No.1 and No.2 International Transportation Corridors in the Coastal Region. The “No.1 Coastal Corridor” connects Heilongjiang Province of China with the ports in the Primorsky Krai of Russia. The specific route is from Harbin – Mudanjiang – Suifenhe – Pogranichny – Ussuriysk – Vladivostok Port / Vostochny Port / Nakhodka Port. The “No.2 Coastal Corridor” connects Jilin Province of China with Zarubino Port in the Primorsky Krai of Russia. The specific route is from Changchun – Jilin – Hunchun – Zarubino Port. The development of the “No.1 Coastal Corridor” and the “No.2 Coastal Corridor” is of great significance for the Far East regions as well as the connection between the Belt and Road Initiative and the Eurasian Economic Union. Second, in terms of cross-border bridge construction, five federal subjects in the Russian Far East (Amur Oblast, Jewish Autonomous Oblast, Primorsky Krai, Khabarovsk Krai, and Transbaikal Krai) border Heilongjiang Province of China. China and Russia accelerate the full-scale operation of a series of cross-border infrastructure such as the Nizhneleninskoye – Tongjiang Railway Bridge, the Heihe – Blagoveshchensk Cross – Border Highway Bridge, and the Heihe – Blagoveshchensk Cross-Border Ropeway, and gradually increase the freight volume.

In the field of energy development, the natural gas and petrochemical clusters in the Russian Far East have the largest oil and gas reserves in the Asia-Pacific region. China-Russia energy development and transportation are supported by a well-developed railway transportation network and main pipeline infrastructure. The Development Plan (2018-2024) states that the transportation capacity of the Taishet-Skovorodino section of the existing “Eastern Siberia-Pacific” oil pipeline will be expanded to 80 million tons per year, and the transportation capacity of the Skovorodino-Kozmino port section will be expanded to 50 million tons per year. The transportation capacity of the “Power of Siberia” natural gas pipeline under construction reaches 38 billion cubic meters per year, and the designed transportation capacity of the “Sakhalin-Khabarovsk-Vladivostok” main pipeline is 28.04 billion cubic meters per year.

In the field of mechanism construction, the Development Plan (2018-2024) decides to establish a council composed of relevant Chinese and Russian entrepreneurs within the framework of the inter-governmental mechanism, namely the Inter-governmental Cooperation Committee between Northeast China and the Russian Far East and the Baikal Region. The purpose is to promote the implementation of projects and put forward suggestions for improving the investment and business environment in the Russian Far East. The China Development Bank not only participated in the formulation of the Development Plan (2018-2024), but also will make suggestions for its subsequent implementation. In addition, the Development Plan (2018-2024) lists the Russian “Eastern Economic Forum” and the “China-Russia Expo” as important platforms for China and Russia to jointly promote economic and trade cooperation in the Far East. At the same time, more attention will be paid to the “China Investors’ Day” activities held by Russia in the Far East, aiming to provide Chinese enterprises with the opportunity to have direct dialogue with the Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation in charge of the development of the Russian Far East, communicate in a timely manner about the problems arising in the investment process and seek solutions. The Memorandum of Understanding between the Ministry of Commerce of China and the Ministry of Development of the Russian Far East on the mutual establishment of “representative offices of investment promotion agencies” was also signed together with the Development Plan (2018-2024).

Good Progress Has Been Made in Sub-regional Cooperation between China and Russia

During the six years of the implementation of the Development Plan (2018-2024), sub-regional cooperation between China and Russia in the Far East and Arctic regions has been continuously promoted, which is specifically reflected in the following three aspects:

The cross-border transportation infrastructure has been gradually completed, and the cross-border logistics network has become more mature. In March 2023, the Ministry for the Development of the Russian Far East and Arctic and the Ministry of Commerce of China agreed to expand cooperation on industrial and infrastructure projects under the preferential policies of the Russian Far East. The two sides agreed to strengthen production cooperation, promote international industrial cooperation projects, use project financing mechanisms, and jointly build and operate infrastructure. The discussions also covered strengthening cross-border cooperation, including cooperation via the Nizhneleninskoye – Tongjiang Railway Bridge and the Heihe-Blagoveshchensk Bridge.⁴⁾Russia and China are increasing economic cooperation in the Far East, Ministries of the Russian Federation for the Development of the Far East and the Arctic. 21 March, 2023, https://kolymaplus.ru/news/rossiya-i-knr-narashchivayut-ekonomicheskoe-sotrudnichestvo-na-dalnem-vostoke/22359?utm_source=yxnews&utm_medium=desktop&utm_referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fdzen.ru%2Fnews%2Fsearch%3Ftext%3D. Accessed on 29 April 2025 As of April 2025, China and Russia have completed the construction and operation of cross-border transportation projects such as the Heihe – Blagoveshchensk Cross – Border Highway Bridge (opened to traffic in June 2022), the Nizhneleninskoye – Tongjiang Railway Bridge (opened to traffic in November 2022), and the Heihe-Blagoveshchensk Cross-Border Ropeway (main construction completed in October 2024). According to expert assessments, by 2030, the No.1 and No.2 Coastal International Transportation Corridors will transport 45 million tons of grain and containerized cargo annually, and the annual income of ports and land transportation companies will increase by 91 billion rubles.

Energy trade has become more frequent, and transportation infrastructure has become more complete. The “Power of Siberia” pipeline and the China-Russia Eastern Route Natural Gas Pipeline together form the China-Russia Eastern Route Natural Gas Pipeline Project. On December 21, 2022, the entire “Power of Siberia” pipeline was completed in November 2024, the China-Russia Eastern Route Natural Gas Pipeline project was fully completed; on December 2 of the same year, the China-Russia Eastern Route Natural Gas Pipeline achieved full-line completion. Through the “Power of Siberia” natural gas pipeline, Russia’s gas transmission capacity to China has been increased to the maximum level of 38 billion cubic meters per year, reaching a new height. As of February 25, 2025, the cumulative gas transmission volume of the China-Russia Eastern Route Natural Gas Pipeline Project has exceeded 90 billion cubic meters. The China-Russia Eastern Route Natural Gas Pipeline has optimized China’s regional energy structure and has important environmental protection significance, which can achieve a reduction of 164 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions and 1.82 million tons of sulfur dioxide emissions per year.

The China-Russia cooperation mechanism has become more complete and has expanded to multiple fields such as commercial trade, shipping lane development, and infrastructure. This is vividly reflected in the development of the Arctic shipping lanes. In May 2024, China and Russia established the China-Russia Arctic Shipping Lanes Cooperation Sub-committee within the framework of the mechanism of the Regular Meeting of the Prime Ministers of China and Russia. The sub-committee conducts mutually beneficial cooperation in Arctic development and utilization, protects the Arctic ecosystem, promotes the development of the Arctic shipping lanes into important international transportation corridors, and encourages enterprises of the two countries to strengthen cooperation in increasing the transportation volume of the Arctic shipping lanes and building logistics infrastructure for the Arctic shipping lanes, as well as deepen cooperation in polar ship technology and construction. On the morning of November 25, 2024, the first meeting of the China-Russia Arctic Shipping Lanes Cooperation Sub-committee of the Regular Meeting of the Prime Ministers of China and Russia was held in St. Petersburg. The two sides reached a series of important consensuses on the institutional framework and cooperation goals of the Arctic Shipping Lanes Sub-committee, achieving fruitful results.⁵⁾Liu Wei attended the first meeting of the Committee for Regular Meetings between the Prime Ministers of China and Russia and the Sub-committee on Arctic Shipping Route Cooperation, Ministry of Transport of the People’s Republic of China, 27 November, 2024. https://www.mot.gov.cn/jiaotongyaowen/202411/t20241127_4160163.html. Accessed on 28 April 2025 The China-Russia joint statement released on May 9, 2025, states that it is necessary to improve the infrastructure construction of China-Russia border ports, enhance the efficiency of passenger and cargo transportation, port inspection and customs clearance capabilities, tap the transit transportation potential of the two countries, ensure the barrier-free operation of the China-Russia cross-border transportation corridor, and strengthen mutually beneficial cooperation on Arctic shipping routes. The two sides advocate maintaining peace and stability in the Arctic region and preventing the emergence of military-political tensions in the region.⁶⁾Joint statement by the People’s Republic of China and the Russian Federation on Global Strategic Stabilitz, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China, 6 May, 2025. https://www.gov.cn/yaowen/liebiao/202505/content_7023051.htm. Accessed on 14 May 2025

Future Development Directions of Sub-regional Cooperation between China and Russia

The sub-regional cooperation between China and Russia in the Far East and Arctic regions has been continuously improved in terms of infrastructure, energy trade, and institutional arrangements, serving as a material anchor for strategic stability.

Deepening the cooperation in the industrial chain and supply chain of the sub-regions is a key aim for China and Russia. Under the new development pattern, China-Russia economic and trade cooperation should focus on optimizing the energy industrial structure, promoting the coordinated and high-quality development of the mid- and down-stream industries, as well as practical cooperation in fields such as cross-border e-commerce, scientific and technological innovation, and agriculture. It is committed to giving play to the optimized combination of elements such as the automobile manufacturing industry, aviation manufacturing industry, shipbuilding industry, ferrous metallurgy industry, non-ferrous metallurgy industry, electronic industry, mining industry, agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry, sideline production, fishery, and logistics industry.

Ensuring the safety and stability of the structure of the maritime and railway freight supply chain in the Primorsky Krai is an important convergence point for the strategic alignment of the regional economies between Northeast China and the Russian Far East. For the high-quality coordinated development of the regional economies of China and Russia, it is necessary to comprehensively promote the connectivity of integrated transportation infrastructure. Among them, opening up the “land passage” and the “sea-land passage” serves as a new strategic engine for strengthening the safety of the industrial chain and supply chain structure between China and Russia. In this regard, it is necessary to attach importance to the leading role of the northern ports such as Dalian Port and Qingdao Port. As the main transit port for import and export trade in Northeast China, Dalian Port undertakes the transportation of over 98.5% of the foreign trade container goods in the three northeastern provinces,⁷⁾The People’s Government of Liaoning Province, https://www.ln.gov.cn/web/ywdt/jrln/wzxx2018/2024061708451216980/index.shtml. Accessed on 16 May, 2025 and it has natural advantages in utilizing the “Northeast Passage”. As the largest seaport along the Yellow River Basin, Qingdao Port is located in the port clusters of the Bohai Rim, the Yangtze River Delta, and those of Japan and South Korea. Its sea-rail intermodal transportation has ranked first in China for eight consecutive years. It has a total of more than 220 shipping routes, covering more than 700 ports in over 180 countries and regions around the world, with an average daily cargo throughput of 1.3 million tons.

Digital economic cooperation is emerging as a new driving force for bilateral cooperation. In recent years, the digital economy has become an engine for the development of the world economy and is leading the future economic development. Judging from the trends of future cooperation, digital economic cooperation should become an important direction and area of China-Russia economic and trade cooperation. Since 2020, the two countries have officially launched the “China-Russia Digital Economy Demonstration Project”, and in 2021, the China-Russia Digital Economy Research Center was established in Xiamen. The two countries are carrying out cooperation in such fields as cross-border e-commerce, software development, network information security, and mobile payment system software, and on this basis, promoting the transformation and upgrading of cooperation in traditional fields to areas such as 5G, artificial intelligence, compatibility and interoperability of satellite systems, and satellite Internet.

Conclusion

Through a comparative study of the implementation of the China-Russia development plan (2018-2024), we can draw the conclusion that sub-regional cooperation has the function of a “strategic stabilizer”, and its material existence can reduce the fluctuations in the relations between major powers. Over the past decade, the sub-regional cooperation between China and Russia in the Far East has been deeply integrated into the strategic layout of the two countries, and a comprehensive cooperation system has been established relying on complementary advantages. During the implementation of the China-Russia Cooperation and Development Plan for the Russian Far East (2018-2024), both sides have achieved remarkable results in the fields of transportation and logistics, energy development, and institutional construction. The improvement of the cross-border transportation network, the connection of natural gas pipelines, and the establishment of a diversified cooperation mechanism not only promote the growth of bilateral trade but also consolidate the material foundation of China-Russia strategic coordination. However, the cooperation also faces challenges such as complex geopolitics, uncertainties in the reconstruction of the industrial chain, and high infrastructure costs in the Far East. The sub-regional cooperation between China and Russia in the Far East is of far-reaching significance for bilateral development, the integration of Northeast Asia, and the docking between the Belt and Road Initiative and the Eurasian Economic Union. It will become an important support for regional peace and prosperity and provide a practical example for a new paradigm of international relations.

Li Xiaoning is a PhD candidate of Ocean University of China.