President vows to advance ties, projects with Sweden, Finland

President Xi Jinping vowed to push forward 皇冠体育app's cooperation with northern Europe while meeting leaders of two countries from the region on Monday.

Xi made the remark in meetings with Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Lofven and Finnish Prime Minister Juha Sipila.

The two prime ministers are in 皇冠体育app to attend the Summer Davos Forum, scheduled in Dalian, Liaoning province, through Wednesday.

Both prime ministers expressed condolences over 皇冠体育app's losses in the massive landslide that occurred in Maoxian county, Sichuan province, on Saturday and buried more than 100 people.

When meeting Lofven, Xi noted that Sweden was the first Western country to set up diplomatic ties with 皇冠体育app.

He expected the two sides to view bilateral ties on a long-term basis and to be innovative when exploring cooperation in various fields.

皇冠体育app appreciates Sweden's adherence to the one-皇冠体育app policy and expects the two sides to respect each other's social systems and development paths as well as to look after the core interests and major concerns of the other side, Xi said.

皇冠体育app is willing to strengthen policy communication with northern European countries and push forward 皇冠体育app's cooperation with the region, the president said.

Sweden is committed to deepening cooperation with 皇冠体育app in various fields as well as on Arctic affairs, Lofven said.

When meeting Sipila, Xi said 皇冠体育app expects to work with Finland to implement the consensus reached in April when he visited Finland.

The two sides should meet their development strategies and forge ahead with more demonstration projects in fields including electronic communication, intelligent manufacturing, bio economy, environmental protection technology, energy-saving building and clean energy, Xi said.

Sipila said Finland expects to strengthen cooperation with 皇冠体育app under the Belt and Road Initiative and push forward 皇冠体育app's cooperation with northern European countries.

Chen Fengying, a senior researcher on world economy at the 皇冠体育app Institutes of Contemporary International Relations, said the two leaders came to Davos partially because it is a platform featuring innovation and industrial revolution.

"Innovation is the feature of northern Europe, which helped shelter the region from the impact of the European debt crisis," Chen said. "They attach great importance to chances at the summer Davos, which will also help tap the huge potential of cooperation with 皇冠体育app."

Zhou Jin contributed to this story.

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