China says international cooperation key to developing Arctic shipping routesChina has called for stronger international cooperation on the establishment and operation of Arctic shipping routes as it elaborates on a vision of a Polar Silk Road in its first white paper on Arctic policy.As a result of global warming, the Arctic shipping routes, made up of three passages, are likely to become important transportation routes for international trade, according to the white paper released by the State Council Information Office on Friday.?China hopes to work with all parties to build a 'Polar Silk Road' through developing the Arctic shipping routes, the document said.?It also said the Belt and Road Initiative, which consists of the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, will bring opportunities for parties concerned to jointly build a Polar Silk Road, and facilitate connectivity and sustainable economic and social development of the Arctic.?China has conducted studies on these routes and continuously strengthened hydrographic surveys to improve navigation, security and logistical capacities in the Arctic. It will encourage its enterprises to participate in infrastructure development and conduct commercial trial voyages, the white paper said.?It stressed that the management of the Arctic shipping routes should be conducted in accordance with treaties including the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and general international laws. China also expects to participate in development of energy, fishing and tourism in the region.?China's participation in Arctic affairs will be conducted in accordance with the basic principles of respect, cooperation, win-win results and sustainability, the white paper said.?With promoting sustainable development as the ultimate goal, China's participation will bring opportunities, instead of damage, to the region, Vice-Foreign Minister Kong Xuanyou said at a news conference on Friday.Some people doubt China's participation in Arctic affairs and worry we'll plunder resources and damage the environment. I think that worry is completely unnecessary, he said.?We're willing to conduct mutually beneficial cooperation on the development of Arctic shipping routes, infrastructure construction and marine research with parties concerned, especially the Arctic countries, he said.?Zhang Xia, a researcher with the Polar Research Institute of China, said the development of the routes will benefit countries that rely heavily on seaborne trade.Some regions along the traditional shipping routes from China to Europe are troubled by political instability, and some waters in the routes are infested by pirates. For the Arctic routes, there is no such risks, he said.?Voyage efficiency in the Northern Hemisphere will be greatly improved with the Arctic routes. The distance from China to Europe through the Northeast Passage in the Arctic is about one-third shorter than traditional routes, Zhang said.?However, he said, the Arctic routes may only be used seasonally because of winter ice.?Shipping route development is an economic sector that comes second only to oil and gas development in the Arctic. Arctic routes may further enhance EU-China economic cooperation, said Zhao Long, a researcher from the Shanghai Institutes for International Studies.The land territory of the Arctic, covering about 8 million square kilometers, belongs to Canada, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Russia, Sweden and the United States.Xinhua contributed to this story. custom photo braceletcustom woven friendship braceletsorder silicone wristbands online cheapdebossed silicone braceletsrubber band bracelets
Traffic flows through an entranceway to an underwater section of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge on Oct 24, the day it opened to public. [Photo/Xinhua] The Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge has got off to a good start, serving about 1.79 million passengers in the first month of smooth and orderly operation, the Ministry of Transport said on Thursday. As of midnight on Tuesday, the bridge's daily passenger volume reached 64,000, with the highest hitting 103,000 on Nov 18. The figures exceed our expectations, said Yiu Si-wing, who represents the tourism sector in the legislature of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. He added that the bridge's first month of operation had a positive impact on the city's tourism industry. Yet, he admitted that the immediate benefits are not as significant as he had thought they would be. He mentioned that perhaps 20 percent of the passengers who used the boundary-crossing bridge were there just to worship the bridge. They had no intention of entering Hong Kong. Moreover, Yiu said, for those who did enter Hong Kong via the bridge, the majority were on one-day tours, bypassing hotels and tourist spots or resorts. Passenger vehicles represented up to 97.6 percent of the total traffic on the bridge, according to the ministry. Shuttle buses accounted for 45 percent of the total vehicle traffic, with private cars making up another 30.5 percent. Cargo accounted for 2.4 percent. Rush hours were from 10 am to noon and 5 pm to 7 pm, the data showed. We saw no traffic congestion on the bridge at all, said Teddy Chung Wai-tong, vice-chairman of the Hong Kong Macau Cross Border Association. But he said that passenger congestion did occur on weekends as people gathered to wait for shuttle buses. Shuttles on the bridge carry passengers to the three border checkpoints in Hong Kong; Macao; and Zhuhai, Guangdong province, while crossborder coaches can send passengers to downtown areas in the three places. Chung hoped the Hong Kong government would increase quotas for the crossborder coaches to ease the burden of the shuttle buses. He cited his own company, One Bus Hong Kong Macau, as an example. The company provides cross-border coach service between Hong Kong and Macao. We can only serve a maximum of 5,000 passengers a day because of the quota restrictions. But the daily volume of passengers traveling between Hong Kong and Macao may climb to 30,000 on weekends, he said. But to Yiu, the quota increase doesn't seem urgent. Since the bridge has only been open to traffic for a month, it would be better to consider and review the quota policies after further observations have been made over a longer period. The bridge officially opened on Oct 23. Its 55-kilometer-long complex of bridge structures, tunnels and island crossings connect the east and west sides of the Pearl River Delta in South China.
