Chinese vice premier meets with Finnish PM

Chinese Vice Premier Wang Yang (R) shakes hands with Finnish Prime Minister Jyrki Katainen during their meeting in Beijing, capital of China, Sept. 12, 2013. Katainen came to Beijing after attending the annual Summer Davos Forum in Dalian, northeast China's Liaoning Province. (Xinhua/Lan Hongguang)

Chinese Vice Premier Wang Yang met with Finnish Prime Minister Jyrki Katainen on Thursday, vowing to promote bilateral cooperation in innovation and environmental protection.

Wang spoke highly of China-Finland relations, saying that the economies of China and Finland are highly complementary and bilateral cooperation enjoys broad prospects.

He called on both sides to fully implement the consensus reached by the two heads of state, explore potential and enhance exchange and cooperation in the areas of innovation and environmental protection so as to promote common development.

Katainen, who was in Beijing after attending the annual Summer Davos Forum in the northeast Chinese port city of Dalian, said the visit by a large economic and trade delegation he led to China showed that Finland values cooperation with China and hopes to further step up cooperation.

Finland expects to cooperate more closely with China in the areas of information technology and environmental protection, Katainen said.