Finnish President Alexander Stubb has hailed the long-time mutual trust and cooperation highlighted in Finland's ties with China, expressing his willingness to work with China in charting the course for bilateral cooperation at a time when the world faces conflicts and competitions.
Stubb was in Beijing for a four-day state visit to China from October 28 to 31 at the invitation of Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Noting that the two countries enjoyed trust and cooperation in their relationship over time in an interview with China Media Group on Wednesday in Beijing, Stubb said his state visit to China coincides an "interesting" time when the world faces uncertainties.
"It just shows the history of our relations. I mean Finland is a fairly young nation. We gained our independence in 1917, and then we forged diplomatic relations 74 years ago with China. That, of course, also was linked to commercial relations. And there's been this sort of element of trust over history. Finland is an unoffensive country. We don't have a colonial past. We're quite cooperative, in the sense of Finnish-Chinese relations over time. And of course for me personally as president, it was very interesting to come here at a time when the world order is changing, when there is conflict and competition and we're trying to figure out how do we do cooperation, what is the power balance in the world?" said Stubb.
Finnish president sees bright future in China ties after successful state visit
