China and Russia team up on Arctic coastguard mission, with new shipping routes on horizon

China and Russia signalled their closer ties and interest in Arctic shipping routes with their first joint coastguard exercise and patrol earlier this month, observers said.

The China Coast Guard said its vessels, the Meishan and Xiushan, sailed to the Peter the Great Gulf in the Sea of Japan, or East Sea, for the drill from September 16-20.

China said the exercise tested personnel on dealing with maritime law enforcement security threats, interception of suspected criminal ships, sea rescue, and firefighting.

On September 21, the vessels embarked on a patrol with their Russian counterparts in the high seas of the North Pacific, the China Coast Guard said on its Weibo social media account.

The patrol took the ships close to the Arctic, according to footage posted online on Sunday by Yuyuan Tantian, a social media channel affiliated with China Central Television.