Beyond the 'Win-Win' Rhetoric: Drivers and Limits of the Sino-Russian Partnership in the Arctic

The article seeks to shed light on a peculiar and generally overlooked dimension of China and Russia's increasingly intimate strategic partnership, through the assessment of their allegedly cooperative ties in the Arctic region. Accordingly, the exploration untangles the rationale of Sino-Russian interactions within the ranks of the Arctic Council, the current outlook of their joint efforts in the exploitation of Arctic resources, and the ongoing attempts to shape a shared vision for the infrastructural development of the Northern Sea Route. With the notable exception of energy cooperation in the Russian far north, this case study seems to suggest that the growing embrace between Moscow and Beijing is ultimately rooted in pragmatic, instrumental and largely opportunistic considerations, which stand at odds with the 'win-win' rhetoric endorsed on both sides during high-level summits.