Finnish President Visited Beijing

On Tuesday 25 May, President Halonen and her delegation attended a reception at the Ambassador’s residence to celebrate the 60th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the Republic of Finland and the People’s Republic of China. China’s representative at the reception was Mr Wang Gang, Vice-Chairman of the 11th National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC).

On Wednesday morning, Halonen opened Cleantech Finland China, abusiness seminar which was attended by nearly 250 participants; attendance surpassed all expectations. H.E. Vice Premier of the State Council of the People’s Republic of China Li Keqiang held a speech at the seminar and in attendance was also Vice Chairman of National Development and Reform Commission of the People’s Republic of China Xie Zhenhua.

In connection of the seminar as many as 12 trade agreements deepening cooperation between Finland and China were signed.
Vice Premier Li Keqiang, President Tarja Halonen and Minister of the Environment Paula Lehtomäki participated in the Cleantech Finland China -Seminar Meeting with President Hu Jintao and President Halonen was scheduled for Saturday 29 May.

The main topics of the discussions were climate change and the impacts of the global financial crisis. The situation on the Korean Peninsula was also mentioned and President Halonen said that she hopes a peaceful resolution will be found. President Hu underlined that he appreciates Finland’s role in the development of the Sino-EU relations.
 
Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Paavo Väyrynen and Commissioner Xiao Jie from the State Administration of Taxation (SAT) of China signed a revised bilateral taxation Agreement on 25 May. The Agreement, which concerns, for example, taxation of dividend income payable abroad, will benefit many Finnish companies operating in China.  


Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *