Chinese President Xi Jinping holds talks with his Finnish counterpart Sauli Niinisto in Helsinki, Finland, April 5, 2017. (Xinhua/Rao Aimin)
China and Finland confirmed on Wednesday the establishment of a future-oriented new-type cooperative partnership in a joint declaration during Chinese President Xi Jinping's state visit to the country.[Special coverage]
The Chinese president and his Finnish counterpart Sauli Niinisto stressed that to build a more forward-looking and strategic bilateral relationship that keeps pace with the times is in the fundamental interests of both countries and their people.
This shows that Xi's visit transcended bilateral ties and has regional and global strategic significance.
GOOD CHINA-FINLAND TIES
Since China and Finland established diplomatic relations in 1950, bilateral ties have undergone a good, rapid development. Xi's visit undoubtedly deepened China-Finland ties and boosted bilateral cooperation.
This year marks the centenary of Finland's independence. Niinisto, the Finnish president, told Xinhua in an interview ahead of the visit that it was "a great honor to receive President Xi" on this occasion, and he was confident that the visit would deepen their friendship.
Finland was not only one of the first Western countries to establish diplomatic ties with China and the first Western nations to sign an intergovernmental trade agreement with China, but also one of the few Western countries that actively supported the restoration of China's lawful seat at the United Nations.
The two nations respect each other, treat each other as equals and enjoy mutually-beneficial cooperation, setting an example for countries with different social systems to develop bilateral relations.
In trade, China has remained Finland's biggest trading partner in Asia for the past 14 years, and Finland is the third largest trade partner of China in the Nordic region. And there is huge potential for the two nations to cooperate in areas like information and communications technology, clean technology and new energy.
For people-to-people exchanges, taking tourism as an example, the number of Chinese tourists spending nights in Finnish hotels in 2016 reached 225,000, up 27 percent compared to that of 2015, according to official data from Statistics Finland.
Meanwhile, the two countries' decision to promote exchanges in winter sports and cooperation in organizing the 2022 Olympic Winter Games is expected to further expand and enrich people-to-people exchanges.
