Photo: China's Ministry of Commerce
China and Sweden should firmly support the free trade, further deepening bilateral cooperation for more tangible results, said officials and business leaders from both countries during the China-Sweden Trade and Investment Forum held on Monday in Stockholm, Sweden, which gathered over 200 business representatives from China and Sweden.
Ling Ji, China's Vice Commerce Minister and Deputy China International Trade Representative, said during the forum that China-Sweden economic and trade cooperation has yielded fruitful achievements over the past 75 years since the establishment of bilateral diplomatic relations, according to China's Ministry of Commerce on Monday.
Both sides should uphold the principles of mutual respect, equality and mutual benefit that guided the establishment of their diplomatic relations, further tap into the potential of sci-tech innovation cooperation, grasp the opportunities in green transition, and jointly write a new chapter for China-Sweden economic relations, said Ling.
"The overall positive trajectory of the Chinese economy remains unchanged, and Chinese government's determination to unswervingly expand high-level opening-up remains unchanged," Ling emphasized, noting that China-Sweden and China-EU should firmly safeguard multilateralism and free trade amid rising unilateralism and protectionism.
Jan Larsson, President and CEO of Business Sweden, and Ulf Pehrsson, Chairman of Sweden-China Trade Council (SCTC), said that Swedish companies are optimistic about the economic development prospects of China, not only regarding China as one of the most important markets and production bases, but also as an increasingly important research and development center.
The Swedish side will firmly support the free trade, promote cooperation of companies from the two countries, facilitate the implementation of Swedish sustainable development concepts, technologies, and innovative achievements in China, support Chinese enterprises in investing in Sweden, and promote more practical outcomes in bilateral economic and trade cooperation, the Swedish business leaders said.
On the same day, a Swedish companies roundtable under the "Invest in China" campaign was also held. A total of 15 Swedish companies including Alfa Laval, IKEA and Volvo, and two local business associations of Business Sweden and SCTC attended the roundtable.
China has resilient economy, huge market potential, complete industrial system and concentration of innovation elements, which benefit the development for Swedish companies and other multinationals, Ling said during the roundtable, noting that China welcomes Swedish companies to expand their investment in China in areas such as green development and low-carbon, digital economy and smart manufacturing.
Representatives of the attended companies affirmed Chinese government's efforts on improving business environment for foreign enterprises, and vowed to further expand their investment scale in Chinese market, contributing to the stable development of China-Sweden relations.
According to data showed on the website of the Embassy of Sweden, approximately 10,000 Swedish companies conduct trade with China and over 600 Swedish or Sweden-related companies have operations in China, and China is Sweden's largest trading partner in Asia.
Global Times
