BEIJING, JAN 26 (DNA) – China has expressed its ambitions to extend Belt and Road Initiative to the Arctic by developing shipping lanes opened up by global warming.

Releasing its first official Arctic policy white paper on Friday, Beijing said it would encourage enterprises to build infrastructure and conduct commercial trial voyages, paving the way for Arctic shipping routes that would form a Polar Silk Road.

China , despite being a non-Arctic state, is increasingly active in the polar region and became an observer member of the Arctic Council in 2013.=DNA

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