Finnish firms in China benefited from economic growth

Finnish analysts have welcomed the reports on China's economic growth in the first half (H1) of 2021 and noted that Finnish companies active in China have also benefited from this development, reported Xinhua, quoting Finnish language business daily Kauppalehti.

"The growth of the Chinese economy during the first half of 2021 was very fast," Ilkka Korhonen, head of research at the Bank of Finland Institute for Emerging Economies (BOFIT), told Kauppalehti, adding that if the same rate of growth continues all through this year, China would be able to reach its official gross domestic product (GDP) growth target in real terms.

China's GDP expanded 12.7 percent year-on-year in the first half of 2021 as recovery continues to be firm, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) of China said on Thursday.

Timo Hirvonen, chief economist at Swedish bank Svenska Handelsbanken in Finland, told Kauppalehti that the growth figures matched the expectations.

He noted that there were concerns in the markets about how domestic demand would develop in China, especially in services. "But the data we now have indicate that the service sector has developed well during the second quarter (Q2) and industrial exports from China have also continued well."

Commenting to Kauppalehti, Petri Vuorio, director for entrepreneurship, business policy and EU affairs at the Confederation of Finnish Industries (EK), said that "2021 has been a record year" for Finnish companies that operate locally on the Chinese market.

Vuorio noted that Finland's goods exports to China have increased this year by over 20 percent and that last year, exports of Finnish food products to China nearly doubled. China's current focus on reducing emissions further improves the related Finnish industries' business prospects there.

Timo Vuori, senior executive and vice president of the Finland Chamber of Commerce, confirmed to Kauppalehti the Finnish companies' positive assessment of the Chinese market.

"The trade policy risks must be identified, but at the same time companies must be brave to benefit better from the possibilities offered by the Chinese market," Vuori was quoted by the newspaper as saying. However, he said he was concerned about the prospects of air traffic and tourism between Finland and China.

Klaus Björkgren, vice president at Nordic Match, a boutique mergers and acquisitions (M&A) and strategy advisor that focuses on projects between the Nordic states and China, told Kauppalehti that their customers had reported more "market efforts" than "withdrawals" when assessing company takeovers and investments on the whole.

Björkgren said that companies that have operations in China have been able to join the growth there more than earlier. He noted that the growth figures in China look better than previously expected, especially in the field of consumption.