On Tuesday 21 August 2018 at 12.30–14.00 Egill Thor Nielsson will give us an open lecture about China’s Arctic Policy and the Belt and Road Initiative. In the beginning of the lecture Nielsson will tell about the China-Nordic Arctic Research Centre (CNARC). The lecture takes place in Thule meeting room of the Arctic Centre in Arktikum house (Pohjoisranta 4, Rovaniemi).
China’s Arctic Policy – The Belt and Road Initiative and the Nordic Countries
China
published its first Arctic Policy White Paper in January 2018 following
years of preparation, including an introduction of a proposed “Polar
Silk Road”. With China having joined the Arctic Council as an observer
in 2013 and included the Arctic region in its Vision for Maritime
Cooperation under the Belt and Road Initiative in June 2017. What does
it mean that the Belt and Road Initiative has entered the Arctic region?
How is this likely to affect potential Arctic investments and trade for
years to come? The focus here will be on China’s Arctic engagement,
cooperation with the Nordic Countries, and its impact on Arctic
developments in an evolving world order.
The China-Nordic Arctic Research Center (CNARC): Pioneering China-Nordic Arctic Collaboration
In this presentation
CNARC’s
evolution over the past five years will be introduced, including its
academic impact and role at the intersection of research, policy, and
industry. CNARC was established in December 2013 and it is a consortium
of 18 research institution and universities (10 Nordic and 8 Chinese).
CNARC's purpose is to provide a platform for academic cooperation to
increase awareness, understanding and knowledge of the Arctic and its
global impacts, as well as to promote cooperation for sustainable
development of the Nordic Arctic and coherent development of China in a
global context. The research priorities of CNARC are (1) Arctic climate
change and its impacts, (2) Arctic resources, shipping and economic
cooperation, and (3) Arctic policy-making and legislation.
Egill Thor Nielsson
is Executive Secretary of China-Nordic Arctic Research Center (CNARC),
and Visiting Scholar at the Polar Research Institute of China (PRIC) and
Shanghai Institutes for International Studies (SIIS). In 2012 he
participated in the 5th Chinese National Arctic Research Expedition
(CHINARE5) on-board icebreaker R/V Xuelong, as it became the first
Chinese-flagged vessel to transit an Arctic Ocean passage.
Welcome!
Photo: Egill Bjarki