MOSCOW, March 21. /TASS/. Russia and China are ready to create a joint working body for the development of the Northern Sea Route, Russian President Vladimir Putin said at talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Tuesday.
"We see cooperation with Chinese partners in developing the transit potential of the Northern Sea Route as promising. We are ready to create a joint working body for the development of the Northern Sea Route," Putin said.
According to him, in general, the transport and logistics infrastructure is being improved.
"Our countries are united by a long land border, so the formation of railway and road corridors in the direction of China-Europe and back through Russian territory remains an absolute priority to meet the needs of growing cargo and passenger traffic," the Russian President noted.
He also recalled the transport infrastructure facilities that were launched last year.
"The launch of traffic on bridges will reduce the cost and time of transporting goods between Russia and China, expand the geography of trade and increase the volume of transit with the countries of the Asia-Pacific Region," Putin stressed.
The Northern Sea Route is a shipping route and the main sea line in the Russian Arctic sector. It stretches along the northern coasts of Russia across the seas of the Arctic Ocean (Barents, Kara, Laptev, East Siberian, Chukchi and Bering seas). The route consolidates the European and Far Eastern ports of Russia and navigable river mouths in Siberia into a single transport system. The route’s length is 5,600 km from the Kara Strait to Providence Bay.