On March 2, the release conference for the Arctic Blue Book: Report on Arctic Region Development (2023-2024) and the Seminar on “New Dynamics in Arctic Governance” were held in Qingdao. The event was co-hosted by OUC Polar Research Center and Social Sciences Academic Press. This volume is the tenth in the annual report series edited by Professor Liu Huirong, and China’s first blue book produced by a university that continuously follows developments in Arctic affairs.

The blue book focuses on major events and popular topics in Arctic affairs from 2023 to 2024. It includes a general report and more than 10 sub-reports on three main areas: Arctic policies, resource exploitation, and cultural environment. The general report provides a systematic analysis of the consolidation and reconfiguration of power in the Arctic region. As one of the featured works of the Blue Book series published by Social Sciences Academic Press, the report is both forward-looking and policy-oriented, and has become a flagship brand in China’s Arctic studies. It enjoys wide influence at home and abroad and has been repeatedly cited by the media and publications, including Arctic annual reports of the U.S. Library of Congress. Previous volumes in the series have received the Excellent Pishu Report Award and been selected among Qingdao’s Top 10 Outstanding Books on Marine Culture. The series’ consistently high-quality publications highlight the solid foundation and fruitful achievements of the OUC Polar Research Centre in polar governance. As one of the key stakeholders in Arctic affairs, China is contributing its wisdom to Arctic governance through such research.