Experts see greater Finnish market in China

Foreign companies will have more opportunities in the Chinese market, especially in the wake of wider reforms announced by a key meeting of the Communist Party of China (CPC),a panel of Chinese experts said here Friday.

A Chinese delegation led by Li Shulei, deputy secretary of the 19th CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, arrived in Finland Thursday from Switzerland as part of a three-nation tour to explain the key decisions taken at the 19th CPC National Congress in Beijing in October, the key five-yearly assembly that assessed the current social reality and drafted plans for the future. Their next stop is Denmark.

Their mission also includes explaining the social developments in China over the past five years, development of socialism with Chinese characteristics for a new era, and the improvements in the business environment to win the confidence of foreign investors.

At a gathering of Finnish officials, business leaders and think tank members in Helsinki Friday, Li explained how China is deepening reform to improve the management system and attain better and more modern governance.

The more China opens up and the wealthier the Chinese get, the more opportunities there are for China and Finland to work together, Li said. One example of that was the boom of Chinese tourists in Finland in recent years.

Li Wentang, director and professor at the Literature and History Department at the Party School of the CPC Central Committee, said China will not close its doors to the world but open them wider.

China's focus was to promote economic globalization and develop a high-standard economy as well as improve the environment for enterprises by strengthening intellectual property rights protection, the professor said.

Jyri Häkämies, director general of the Confederation of Finnish Industries, said economic cooperation between China and Finland was experiencing the best period in history.

The Committee for Innovative Business Cooperation, founded during Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit to Finland in April 2017 to promote cooperation between Finnish and Chinese companies, had convened twice, he said.

The Chinese experts Friday also met Maria Lohela, Speaker of the Finnish Parliament, and Matti Vanhanen, former prime minister and presidential candidate of the Suomen Keskusta (Centre Party).