Arkhangelsk Wants Chinese Investment To Jointly Produce Arctic Standard Container Equipment

The Arkhangelsk Region wants to establish joint ventures with Chinese companies in Dalian (Port Arthur) to manufacture specialized container equipment, as well as service centres for their maintenance. Arkhangelsk and Dalian are linked by the Northern Sea Passage, a growth route for Russia-China trade.

The scheme was discussed on October 24, 2024, during a meeting between the Governor of the Arkhangelsk Region, Alexander Tsybulsky, and the governor of Liaoning Province, Li Lechen.

Tsybulsky said that the Arctic region needs not just an increase in cargo turnover with China, but also the creation of joint ventures. Arkhangelsk needs a production centre for manufacturing specialized container equipment, including universal collapsible modules, transpacks, used for the installation of mobile structures, and complexes for the assembly of cars and equipment. They also need maintenance services centres. Liaoning Province is well-positioned to provide this type of investment – it is a major production site for Chinese railway carriages.

According to Tsybulsky, the Arkhangelsk region can offer Chinese investors production sites and preferential tax breaks, as the entire Russian Arctic area is a Free Trade Zone.

Alexander Tsybulsky also noted that the region is extremely interested in using the capabilities of the port of Dalian in Liaoning Province for regular container traffic. According to him, with the launch of the Arctic Express logistics route No. 1, connecting Moscow and Arkhangelsk with China via a single route by rail and the Northern Sea Route (NSR), the prospects for increasing the volume of bilateral trade are rapidly increasing. Arkhangelsk has also recently begun a regular shipping service to Shanghai.

Tsybulsky stated that “The main thing is that by rolling out this route, we understand that this is not a one-time action, but the first steps on the long path of our cooperation with Dalian. The world economy is changing globally today. And together we are forming a new structure of foreign trade and new logistics trajectories. In the future, we are aiming at a quantitative and qualitative increase in export volumes and now, together with our Chinese partners, we are starting to plan mutual ship calls for navigation in 2025.”

Li noted that the route along the Northern Sea Route contributes to even greater convenience for future cooperation and expressed willingness to develop joint maritime transportation. The Chinese province is also interested in joint work in the field of shipbuilding, equipment manufacturing, and so on.

Arkhangelsk is well known for its timber production, with Russia having the world’s largest timber reserves – about 20% of the total global stock. While China is often listed as the world’s largest timber exporter, much of this is actually re-exported Russian timber. China is in fact the world’s largest timber importer in a trade worth over US$30 billion per annum.