At 01:25 on January 25, the Prime Minister of Finland, Sanna Marin, arrived in Beijing. Her visit to China is interesting, not only coming before the UK Prime Minister Starmer, but also staying in China for four days. According to reports by Finnish media, Marin brought more than 20 Finnish business executives with her, focusing mainly on Sino-Finnish economic and trade cooperation.

Finland has a deep historical connection with China. It was one of the first European countries to establish diplomatic relations with China and was the first Western country to sign a government-to-government trade agreement with China. The largest daily newspaper in Finland, "Helsinki News," published an article yesterday stating that China is Finland's fourth-largest trading partner and the second-largest trading partner in the EU. Finland places great importance on its relationship with China. This visit by Prime Minister Marin will upgrade bilateral trade cooperation.

In fact, although Finland's economy is not particularly large, it can serve as a bridge between China and the EU and Nordic countries. In 2025, bilateral trade between China and Finland exceeded $8 billion, and China has been Finland's largest trading partner in Asia for 20 consecutive years. Traditional areas of Sino-Finnish trade cooperation mainly focus on three aspects: machinery manufacturing, forest industry, and food processing. In recent years, with the development of emerging fields, Sino-Finnish cooperation has gradually diversified, which can be introduced in three aspects:

Firstly, Finland has a very developed global information and communication technology. The first headquarters of the famous telecommunications equipment company "Nokia" is located in Finland. Therefore, there are broad prospects for cooperation between China and Finland in global communication industries such as 5G/6G.

Secondly, according to data from Finnish media, wind power, photovoltaic, and bio-energy projects in China are very popular in Finland. The Kemi Bioproducts factory in China has already invested 2 billion euros in Finland.

Thirdly, in the field of new energy vehicles and batteries, the Finnish mining group cooperates with Chinese companies in mineral development and battery material sectors to ensure the security of the new energy supply chain.

It is reported that during Marin's visit to China, Finland will sign a Memorandum of Understanding on Strengthening the Work of the Sino-Finnish Innovation Enterprise Cooperation Committee, upgrading the cooperation platform.

In my view, Finland is one of the EU countries with a relatively pragmatic relationship with China. Sino-Finnish cooperation is a model of mutual benefit and win-win. For Finland, it can balance the fluctuations of the European economy through the Chinese market and promote energy and industrial upgrading. For China, it can deepen trade and economic exchanges with Nordic developed countries through cooperation with Finland and expand technological cooperation in green and innovative fields.

It can be foreseen that Sino-Finnish cooperation will inject a signal of practical cooperation into Sino-EU relations and become a model for Sino-EU development based on "mutual respect and equal benefit."

Original article: toutiao.com/article/1855247328592007/

Statement: The article represents the views of the author.