Orient to future with warmest memory: Stubb

"Actually the warmest memory I have about China is from a courtesy meeting with then Vice President Xi Jinping," Finnish President Alexander Stubb said in an exclusive interview with Xinhua in Beijing Tuesday.

"We were supposed to meet for about half an hour, however, an hour and a half later, we parted having had a long conversation about world politics. Out of protocol, we ended up meeting the next year in Helsinki to discuss world politics as well," Stubb shared his over decade-long memories about interactions with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Fifteen years ago, Stubb paid his first official visit to China as the Finnish Foreign Minister. Then Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping met with him cordially at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing.

"China was then still an emerging power. Now, it's a major power," said Stubb.

Fifteen years later, President Stubb paid his first state visit to China from Oct. 28 to 31 at the invitation of Chinese President Xi Jinping, ready to enrich the connotation of the bilateral cooperative partnership.

Finland was one of the first Western countries to establish diplomatic ties with the People's Republic of China. During President Xi's state visit to Finland in 2017, the two countries decided to establish a future-oriented new-type cooperative partnership, which was unique in China's foreign relations.

Stubb said many Finnish enterprises in China are related to green transition and biotechnology, which is a vivid embodiment of the term "future-oriented."

Noting that the world nowadays is disorderly and conflictual, Stubb said many global problems, including climate change, immigration and pandemic, cannot be solved only by relying on sovereignty or national solutions. The endeavor also needs strengthening cooperation and practicing multilateralism. "The future-oriented new-type cooperative partnership between Finland and China is part of it."

Over the past 15 years, Stubb paid many visits to China in different capacities, during which he was deeply impressed by China's fruitful economic and social development and had more expectations for China's role in international affairs.

"I will also visit Shanghai this time. When I was asked how I would like to travel from Beijing to Shanghai, I immediately said I wanted to take the high speed train. We look forward to it," said Stubb.

In Stubb's view, in the development of carbon capture technology, high-speed rail, or new energy vehicles, the aim is to make human life more sustainable. China is a trend setter and pioneer in developing clean and efficient transportation.

Solving climate change crisis will require not only strong regulation and adequate funding, but also innovation and technology to create more energy with low emissions, Stubb noted.

"China will play a huge role in trying to find common solutions to common problems, in trying to find solutions of peace, and in being the driver of economic growth globally," said Stubb.

He said China's achievements in manufacturing, innovation and technological development are essentially based on globalization and open trade, stressing the necessity to "continue to work on that."

Finland is the first Western country to sign an intergovernmental trade agreement with China. Stubb said the European Union and China are interdependent and important trading partners, and there is still great potential for cooperation in important areas such as green transformation and clean energy.

"I hope that trade wars don't emerge between major economies," said Stubb.

Noting that next year marks the 75th anniversary of the diplomatic ties between Finland and China, Stubb said it is a good moment to sit down and reflect on the bilateral ties, think about where the relationship is, how to enrich it, and what kind of cooperation both sides can develop further.

"We've done pretty well at the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics. I was watching the games, especially cross-country skiing, and seeing Iivo Niskanen winning a gold medal among others. I think that exchange on all kinds of levels is always good," the president said, calling himself an "avid sports fan."

"I think students are key to future exchanges. We're all human beings. When you study together and work together, you start understanding each other much better," said Stubb, expressing the hope to further boost students' exchanges in the future.