China’s Arctic gamble: Why Beijing is pushing ships through a risky sea route

In late September, a Chinese shipping container called the Istanbul Bridge departed from Ningbo-Zhoushan port carrying run-of-the-mill freight from batteries to blouses. Instead of taking the conventional southern path to the Suez Canal, it headed north into the icy waters of the Arctic Ocean. It's sailing on the Northern Sea Route, a treacherous shipping route that follows Russia's northern shore and opens into Europe. The trip, billed as the launch of the inaugural China-Europe Arctic Express route, is all part of Beijing's plans to build a "Polar Silk Road." It also illustrates how climate change isn't just reshaping ecosystems but is actually redrawing global trade maps, CNN reported.

The Arctic is warming at a rate close to four times higher than the rest of the world. Large stretche