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On September 20, China sent a ship called “Istanbul Bridge”, carrying nearly 5,000 containers, to test a new trade route through the Arctic to reach Europe. This is now possible due to climate change and the resulting rapid ice-melting in the region. The trip will last 18 days, reducing the shipping time from China to Europe, which normally takes 40 days, by almost 40%. This could become a new route capable of changing the importance of the Mediterranean in the future, especially during certain times of the year, and could reshape the broader geopolitical map.

A new way

The voyage will start at China’s Beilun Port in Ningbo-Zhoushan, one of the world’s largest ports, and proceed to the Port of Felixstowe in the United Kingdom. From there, it will continue to Rotterdam, Hamburg, and Gdańsk. The goal is to establish a regular container ship route through Russia’s Northern Sea Route that will link several ports in Asia and Europe. It will probably not erase the crucial importance of other routes such as the Suez Canal, the Mediterranean, the Panama Canal, and Singapore. However, it could become a seasonal and supplemental route that will be as important as the others for its speed and safety. Indeed, it would not need to cross the Red Sea or the Suez Canal, where in the latter piracy remains a serious threat and in the former there are ongoing risks to shipping from Yemeni Houthi fighters. 

Strategic importance, an old dream revived

The company behind the voyage, Haijie Shipping, hopes that, if successful, the trip will mark the first direct northern shipping route to Europe. This could boost China’s already enormous importance in world trade and reshape the geopolitical landscape by freeing China and Russia from reliance on the Strait of Malacca and the Suez Canal, two bottlenecks that could be easily closed in the future. This would strengthen the economic and security ties between these two major powers and enable them to use a route to Europe that is free from U.S.  influence, a historic Chinese goal as shown by its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). Indeed, China's interest in the Arctic is not new. During a visit to Russia in July 2017, Xi Jinping first proposed the vision of an “Ice Silk Road”, and in 2018 China released its White Paper on Arctic Policy, in which it recognized the increasing importance of Arctic transport routes for international trade and expressed its intention to work with all parties to build a “Polar Silk Road”. Moreover, Russia already uses the route to send oil and natural gas eastward, but this time, the goal is to connect Chinese ports, through the Arctic, with Europe and create a truly regular container shipping line. Establishing this trade route has always been the dream of explorers in history, but for geographical reasons, experts long believed such a route would not be feasible before 2040 or even 2050, mainly due to ice conditions. But now the situation has changed.

Risks & environmental concerns

However, the route remains risky. Arctic ice is melting at an unexpectedly rapid pace, three to four times faster than the global average, although dangerous ice fields still remain. Plus, the development of a shipping route in the Arctic could have serious environmental consequences. In fact, even if the International Maritime Organization (IMO) in July 2024 banned the heavy fuel oil from being used for maritime transports, there are loopholes that have already allowed China to use such propellant in container ships like the one that just departed. This fuel is nearly impossible to clean up and so, together with noise pollution, it will threaten the ecosystem and species of the region. This will probably create a vicious circle in which the new pollution created by the route will increase the already fast ice-melting process, enabling the passage of even more ships, that, in turn, will pollute further. 

What will the future look like?

From the Chinese perspective, its effort to create a trade route in the Arctic region, which is currently attracting attention for its security and resource potential, could also become fertile ground for resolving disputes among some of its players. For them, it would represent an initiative that requires cooperation and shared development among various actors to build infrastructure and international mechanisms for management, environmental protection and crisis response. For the China-Europe Arctic Express, it is mandatory to have at least a minimum level of trust between the countries that touch its path for it to work well. At the same time, it opens up new trade possibilities for several states, particularly those that currently do not benefit much from the traditional routes to Europe. However, it can be argued that if China is the first to open this route, it will seek to gain leverage over other countries and assert greater influence in the region. This will lead to a European dilemma: if the route opens, should European states embrace the faster route and take advantage of its benefits, despite the risk of increasing Chinese influence over it?

Bibliography:

The State Council, People’s Republic of China. (2018, January 26). China’s Arctic Policy [White paper].

Eunews. (2025, Settembre 23). China takes the Arctic Route: First ship set to arrive in Europe via the Northeast Passage. 

Global Times. (2025, Settembre 23). 'China-Europe Arctic Express' means far more than just a new shipping route.

Port Technology International. (2025, Settembre 22). Sea Legend route cuts China-Europe transit to 18 days.

Politico. (2025, Settembre 22). China tests express route to Europe as Arctic thaws. 

Photo source: Open AI