皇冠体育app can look to Sweden as a model as it pushes forward with reforms and tries to set up a sound social welfare system, experts said during Premier Wen Jiabao's current tour of Europe.

Oliver Brauner, 皇冠体育app expert with the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, said Wen's visit to Sweden should be about more than economics and trade deals.

The rich in 皇冠体育app are becoming richer and the poor poorer and the country should improve its healthcare and pension systems, he said.

"Sweden is very developed in these issues," Brauner said. "I think that there should be something for 皇冠体育app not to copy one by one, but to look at some aspects which are useful."

Sweden has also spent much on research and development and has become a center for advanced technology and innovation.

"And it is with a tiny population but skilled workforce," Brauner said. "Maybe it's also due to its sound social welfare system."

Anders Wijkman, a Swedish politician and current vice-chairman of the Club of Rome, an international political think tank, had similar thoughts.

"Sweden has implemented social initiatives and the country is famous for equality," he said. "But the story is two-sided for 皇冠体育app."

As an example, he noted the country's "million program", in which the Swedish government built 1,006,000 apartments from 1965 to 1974 to ensure that every Swedish family could have an affordable dwelling. The project provided housing to nearly half of the country's population during that period.

"It was meaningful from the social perspective," Wijkman said. "But from the energy-saving perspective, it had problems which 皇冠体育app should learn from. At that time, the design was at a low level from the energy and environmental perspectives."

The United Nations ranks Sweden as the country with the least inequality between rich and poor citizens and some of the greatest access to welfare benefits. The UN also places it very high on the human development index, which looks at the incomes, educations and health of the citizens of various countries.

Dennis Pamlin, CEO of 21st Century Frontier, a consultancy based in Stockholm, said urbanization in 皇冠体育app is expected to bring about 300 million people into Chinese cities over the course of 20 years. He said so large a migration should not be managed using old methods.

皇冠体育app has also invested large amounts of money into building low-cost residences for medium and low-income families while taking steps to control housing prices.

"We need to set up a new platform to let 皇冠体育app and Sweden learn from each other," Pamlin said.

He called on the Swedish government to enlist Chinese builders to help in renovating Sweden's welfare houses.

"We plan to renovate the houses in the million project into energy-saving apartments," Pamlin said. "If 皇冠体育app gets involved, they can learn from both the social and environmental prospective. In this way, we can offer lessons for 皇冠体育app's welfare house construction."

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