Foreign and Military Affairs
Chinese VP calls for deepened co-op with Sweden
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2010-03-30 01:58
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STOCKHOLM - Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping on Monday suggested that China and Sweden make joint efforts to fight trade protectionism and tackle climate change.
The suggestions were among his five-point proposals announced in a speech at a forum on cooperation between Chinese and Swedish enterprises.
China and Sweden should promote open market and free trade and reject all forms of trade protectionism, Xi said.
Xi called on the two countries to work together on reducing carbon dioxide emissions and actively cope with the climate change for sustainable development.
There is huge potential for bilateral cooperation as Sweden owns leading technologies on environment protection and clean energies, he said.
Xi said China and Sweden should also deepen investment cooperation, strengthen cooperation on innovation, and boost cooperation between small and medium-sized enterprises.
He called on Chinese and Swedish businesses to enhance communication and build up mutual trust for bilateral economic and trade cooperation.
Xi said among Western countries, Sweden was the first to set up diplomatic ties with the People's Republic of China after it was founded in 1949, and also the first to sign trade and investment protection agreements with China following its adoption of reform and opening-up policy in the late 1970s.
Friendly and cooperative ties between China and Sweden have been progressing since the two established diplomatic relations 60 years ago, Xi said, adding bilateral cooperation was expanded in such fields as politics, trade and economy, science and technology, education, culture, and environmental protection.
Xi said trade and economic ties, which have played an important role in Sino-Swedish relations, have made great strides with the efforts of the governments and enterprises of both countries.
Sweden has become an important trading partner of China in Northern Europe and also a major technology exporter in the European Union, Xi said, adding inter-regional contacts and exchanges between the two peoples have been enhanced.
Xi said 2009 had been the most difficult year for China's economy in the 21st century. The Chinese government adopted proactive fiscal policies and moderately expansionary monetary policy in the face of the global financial crisis. China's growth has made contributions to the recovery of world economy.
Swedish Deputy Prime Minister Maud Olofsson, who joined Xi at the forum, said Xi's visit to Sweden at the very time of the 60th anniversary of the Sino-Sweden relationship showed that China has paid high attention to and fully supported the economic cooperation with Sweden.
Olofsson said economic cooperation is the foundation of a mature bilateral relationship. The past 60 years of a good relationship has benefited the peoples. China has now become Sweden's biggest trading partner in Asia, with more than 600 Swedish enterprises operating on its territory.
Olofsson hoped that entrepreneurs of the two countries could join hands in face of a complex and changing world economy, seizing the opportunities to explore new areas of cooperation and deepen bilateral ties.
