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Abstract In September 2017, during the mission of circumArctic scientific expedition, the R.V. Xuelong (Snow Dragon) completed Chinas first transit through the Northwest Passage and practiced relevant laws and regulations concerning the regime of transit application, ice navigation and route planning. The voyage accumulates rich experience for Chinas future utilization of the Northwest Passage for scientific and commercial purposes. At the current stage, the transit traffic through the Northwest Passage remains limited, which is largely subject to severe natural conditions, high costs of pilotage and icebreaking services, inadequate infrastructures and emergencyresponse capacities as well as Canadas concerns over the openingup of the passage. The future development of the Northwest Passage will be highly dependent on demands of resources exploration and infrastructure construction along the waterways. The cooperation between China and Canada on the utilization of the Northwest Passage should be based on mutual trust and initiated by scientific collaboration. Resources development and infrastructure improvement are pivot fields to boost cooperation, and a niche attached to resources along the Northwest Passage makes a crucial measure to promote the effective utilization of the Arctic waterways.
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