In May, the nations of the Arctic Council opened the door to six non-Arctic states, including China. Although mostly symbolic for China, it was the culmination of years spent trying to gain a foothold in the region. This summer, officials have said China plans to send a commercial vessel on a similar voyage, to test whether shipping shortcuts across the Arctic are financially feasible. One of the reasons China wants to send ships across the top of the world is that it will shave thousands of kilometers off its transit routes between ports in Canada, Europe, Iceland and the US, saving money and fuel. By the end of the decade, up to 15% of China's international trade could be transported this way, according to Huigen Yang of the Polar Research Institute of China based in Shanghai.
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