Achieving observer status in the Arctic Council in 2013 was a milestone for China. More than a decade later, it is worth examining how China’s role as an observer in the Arctic Council has evolved. 1
China is a fairly new player in the Arctic, compared with the Arctic states. A signatory to the Svalbard Treaty in 1925, China initiated research activity in the region in the 1990s. It formally joined the International Arctic Science Committee in 1996, and the Polar Research Institute of China opened a research station in Ny-Ålesund on Svalbard in 2004. Following observer status in the Arctic Council, the Polar Silk Road was included in the Belt and Road Initiative in 2017. Importantly, China’s Arctic policy, White Paper, was published in January 2018, which laid out the country’s interests in the Arctic. The White Paper presents environmental protection and climate change in the Arctic among the main drivers of China’s engagement with the Arctic.
China’s Arctic scientific research and expertise have been central to its efforts to obtain observer status in the Arctic Council. As a key producer of knowledge, the Council’s main functions include identifying Arctic issues as well as climate and environmental challenges with global implications. China has been active in Arctic research, focusing primarily on scientific expeditions and climate studies. Growing awareness of climate risks and of China’s domestic vulnerability to climate change has led to increased research climate research in general.
China’s engagement in the Arctic places strong emphasis on climate research, particularly on understanding how climate change in the Arctic affects weather and climate systems in China. This includes examining how temperature changes in the Arctic may influence precipitation patterns and increase the frequency of extreme weather events. Such developments could, in turn, have significant consequences for agriculture and people’s livelihoods in China. Annual reports from the China Meteorological Administration conclude that China is becoming warmer, that climate change is progressing faster than the global average, and that annual precipitation is increasing.
Observers’ most important role is participation in working groups of the Arctic Council. China’s observer reports to the Arctic Council over several chairship periods illustrate the country’s engagement which includes nominating experts who have contributed to working groups. China stated early that it has ambitions for increased participation through further nomination of experts, and it established a pool of experts that will engage with the working groups. Chinese experts participate in all six working groups of the arctic Council with experts from renowned universities that has strong climate science tradition. The observer reports also state clearly that China aims to further promote exchanges and cooperation with working groups of the Council.
Chinese experts’ participation in the Arctic Council’s working groups is significant for several reasons. First, it gives them an opportunity to contribute their expertise to the Council’s scientific processes. Second, these experts are affiliated with institutes and universities linked to the ministries responsible for environmental and climate policy. Their involvement in the working groups therefore also has the potential to contribute knowledge and insights to inform decision-making in China and is helpful for the domestic promotion of Arctic issues. At the same time, there is still scope for greater Chinese participation in the Arctic Council’s working groups.
Third, cooperation between China and the Nordic countries on climate and environmental issues has the potential to generate important synergies.
For instance, Norway’s long-standing cooperation with China on energy, climate, and environmental issues provides a strong basis for further Arctic collaboration. Over the past decade, joint projects have strengthened China’s expertise on mercury emissions, which could support Arctic Council work on mercury and link China’s domestic efforts with Arctic challenges.
In sum, on China’s role on the Arctic Council, it has not assumed a leadership role among the observers but is rather maintaining a low profile. The country has nominated its own experts and contributed to expert groups when relevant. Importantly, China brings important research from the Arctic back to China. Environmental challenges in the Arctic are closely linked with China’s key domestic policies and priorities on environment and climate change.
Gørild M. Heggelund
Research Professor
The Fridtjof Nansen Institute
Norway
gheggelund@fni.no
1 The text draws on China on the Arctic Council: Another venue for Sino–Russian cooperation? In Stensdal, Iselin and Gørild Heggelund 2024. (eds) 2024. China-Russia Relations in the Arctic: Friends in the Cold? Palgrave Macmillan.
Back to Table of Contents