On May 6, Vice Minister of Commerce and Deputy China International Trade Representative Ling Ji met with Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs of Finland Jarno Syrjälä. The two sides exchanged views on China-Finland, China-EU economic and trade relations and other issues.

Ling said that in recent years, under the strategic guidance of the leaders of China and Finland, the development of bilateral economic and trade relations between the two countries has maintained a good momentum. China is ready to work with Finland to leverage the Joint Economic and Trade Committee, the China-Finland Committee for Innovative Business Cooperation and other mechanisms to expand imports of high-quality Finnish products and technologies, and expand cooperation in areas such as the digital economy and green transition. This year marks the 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Finland and the 50th anniversary for China and Europe. We hope that the two sides uphold the original spirit of the establishment of diplomatic relations, strengthen policy communication, deepen practical cooperation, jointly safeguard the multilateral trading system with the WTO at its core, and join hands to deal with the challenges of unilateralism and protectionism, so as to inject more certainty and positive energy into the world economy.

Jarno Syrjälä said Finland attaches importance to economic and trade cooperation with China, encourages Finnish enterprises to develop in China on a long-term basis, and Chinese enterprises are welcome to invest in Finland. Finland firmly supports multilateralism and free trade, and is ready to work with China to create a favourable atmosphere and conditions for business cooperation, to promote the sound and stable development of China-Finland, China-EU economic and trade relations.