Finnish PM to visit China

BEIJING, Jan. 22 (Xinhua) -- Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo will pay an official visit to China from Jan. 25 to 28 at the invitation of Chinese Premier Li Qiang, a foreign ministry spokesperson announced on Thursday.

During the visit, Chinese President Xi Jinping will meet with the Finnish prime minister, while Chinese Premier Li and Chairman of China's National People's Congress Standing Committee Zhao Leji will hold talks and meet with Orpo, respectively, to conduct in-depth exchange of views on bilateral relations and issues of common concern, spokesperson Guo Jiakun told a regular news briefing.

Noting that Finland was among the first Western countries to recognize and establish diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China, Guo said that under the strategic guidance of the two heads of state in recent years, the future-oriented new-type cooperative partnership between the two countries has been deepened, and cooperation in various fields has been steadily advanced.

China attaches great importance to the development of China-Finland relations, and stands ready to work with Finland to maintain close high-level exchanges, consolidate political mutual trust, strengthen economic and trade cooperation, promote people-to-people and cultural exchanges, foster mutual understanding and collaboration in multilateral affairs, and jointly elevate bilateral relations to a new height, Guo said.