Chinese and Russian Scholars Weigh the Next Phase of Arctic Cooperation
Coastline and scenery of May Fourth Square in Qingdao, Shandong, China. Source: iStock.com/Govan Zhang
The 15th China-Russia Arctic Forum gathered researchers and officials from both countries to take stock of their cooperation and test ideas for its next phase.
Chinese and Russian Arctic specialists met in Qingdao on October 24–25 for the 15th China-Russia Arctic Forum. Ocean University of China (OUC) hosted the event, with Saint Petersburg State University (SPbU) as co-organizer.
This year’s theme was China-Russia Far East–Arctic Cooperation: Historical Contexts, Current Challenges and a Shared Vision. It framed 21 presentations across five sessions, ranging from the legal regime of Arctic shipping lanes to satellite sea-ice monitoring and Chinese investment in critical minerals.
The program lists 44 delegates: 29 from Chinese institutions and 15 from Russian ones. Sessions ran in English at the Qingdao Hualan Hotel in the city’s Licang District.
Opening: A Look Back before Looking Ahead
The forum opened on Saturday morning under the chairmanship of Professor Guo Peiqing of OUC’s School of International Affairs and Public Administration. Guo launched the forum on the Chinese side and is a Goodwill Ambassador of the Northern Forum.
Opening remarks came from five speakers:
- Wang Xuepeng, vice president of OUC
- Wang Gang, dean of OUC’s School of International Affairs and Public Administration
- Long Wei, deputy director of the Polar Research Office of China’s State Oceanic Administration
- Victor Dyomin, first vice-rector of Tomsk State University
- Alexey Chernukhin, chairman of the St. Petersburg Information and Business Center in Shandong Province
The first session asked how Far East–Arctic cooperation has evolved and what it should do next. It was co-chaired by OUC associate professor Dong Limin and SPbU associate professor Nadezhda Kharlampeva, who initiated the forum on the Russian side.
Deng Beixi of the Polar Research Institute of China traced how Russia has come to develop its Far East and Arctic as linked regions, and what that means for joint projects. Alexander Pilyasov of Lomonosov Moscow State University reviewed 25 years of Russian-Chinese humanitarian cooperation in the Arctic, its discoveries as well as its disappointments.
Natalia Galtseva, deputy director of the Shilo North-East Interdisciplinary Scientific Research Institute in Magadan, set out prospects for cooperation across both regions. Luo Ying of Guangdong University of Foreign Studies’ South China Business College presented on turning Arctic bioresources into health-food products.
Sheng Li, executive dean of Shandong University’s Institute of Shanghai Cooperation Organization Studies, examined the opportunities and constraints facing China-Russia cooperation as Arctic governance becomes “resecuritized.”
Shipping Lanes: Law, Security, and Sea Ice
The afternoon session turned to maritime passage security and practical cooperation on Arctic shipping. Deng Beixi and Alexander Pilyasov co-chaired it.
Zheng Jun of Harbin Engineering University traced how the international legal order governing Arctic routes is changing, and what that means for China’s maritime rights. Ding Muqiang of Nanjing University looked at the opportunities, risks, and possible pathways for joint shipping projects through a security lens.
Two talks were technical. Wang Xinsheng of the Harbin Institute of Technology (Weihai) presented work on sensing a ship’s attitude and position. Igor Bashmachnikov of SPbU and the Nansen International Environmental and Remote Sensing Centre showed how satellites track sea ice along the Northeast Passage.
Anastasia Karmatskaya of the Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA) discussed methods for defining which territories count as Russia’s Far North.
Science and Education: Proposals on the Table
The day’s final session covered research and education cooperation in the age of artificial intelligence, chaired by Igor Bashmachnikov. It came during 2026’s reciprocal Russia-China Year of Education, which aims to expand student, faculty, and joint-program exchanges.
Victor Dyomin presented Tomsk State University’s proposals for working with Chinese universities on ecology and climate.
Nadezhda Kharlampeva and Elena Bogdanova, a leading researcher at Tomsk State University, outlined the sixth Russian-Chinese Arctic Seasonal School planned for 2027. Its focus will be Arctic resources, under the banner Silk Road Collaboration: Arctic Policy, Human Ecology and Bioeconomy.
The Arctic Century’s editor Dmitry Tarasov attended the school’s most recent session, held in July 2026.
Vera Smorchkova of RANEPA in Moscow proposed research directions for RANEPA and OUC under the memorandum of cooperation between the two institutions.
AI itself featured most directly in the poster exhibition. Zhao Yadan of the Shanghai University of Political Science and Law compared the Canadian and Russian Arctic to ask whether AI can improve social governance in the region.
Speakers of the 15th China-Russia Arctic Forum
Corridors, Minerals, and the Polar Silk Road
Sunday’s first session linked supply-chain resilience to energy and resource cooperation. It was co-chaired by Dariya Burnasheva of the Arctic State University of Culture and Creative Industries in Yakutsk and OUC lecturer Zhang Jiajia.
Transport dominated the session, with the Trans-Arctic Transport Corridor a recurring reference:
- Ruslan Gulidov, vice-rector for research at Admiral Nevelskoy Maritime State University in Vladivostok, placed the Russian Far East within the emerging Arctic transport system.
- Alexander Sergunin of SPbU assessed how the corridor could connect with new Sino-Russian transport routes.
- Song Han of Henan Normal University looked at the corridor’s openings for supply-chain cooperation.
- Chen Yitong of OUC’s Law School reviewed recent progress and institutional prospects in Arctic shipping cooperation.
Huang Wen of Guangdong University of Foreign Studies examined the security risks facing Chinese investment in Arctic critical minerals, and possible strategic responses.
The last session, co-chaired by Sergunin and Chen, looked at regional linkages and new patterns of international cooperation. OUC professor Yang Zhenjiao discussed resilient governance of Arctic routes as the international shipping order is restructured.
Burnasheva explored where Arctic and Far Eastern identities converge. Lin Jianhua of Dalian Ocean University weighed the constraints on, and room for, China-Russia cooperation on the “Polar Silk Road.”
Closing and What Comes Next
Guo Peiqing and Nadezhda Kharlampeva, the forum’s two founding figures, closed the event at midday on Sunday. A second poster, by Pan Tianshui, founder of the Junying think tank, and Dong Xingzuo of the Beijing Join Armament Technology Academy, analyzed risks on Arctic routes and options for practical cooperation.
The next fixed point on the shared calendar is the 2027 Arctic Seasonal School on Arctic resources.