On April 25, 2006, Premier Wen Jiabao of the State Council held talks with his Finnish counterpart Matti Vanhanen in the Great Hall of the People.

Wen said that Finland is one of the first developed countries to establish diplomatic ties with the People's Republic of China, as well as the first developed nation to sign bilateral trade agreement between the two governments. In early 1970s, Finland actively supported the resumption of China's legitimate seat in the United Nations. All this represents farsightedness of the Finnish government in developing ties with China. In recent years, bilateral relations have been kept closer, which can be seen in close high-level exchanges, rapid economic and trade development and continuously expanded exchanges and cooperation in the areas of culture, education, science and technology.

Wen appreciated the Finnish government and Prime Minister Vanhanen himself for the positive policy to deem China's development an opportunity, but not a challenge, for Finland and be willing to work with China to realize win-win benefits in the process of globalization. He emphasized that China attaches great importance to developing bilateral relations and would like to continue maintaining the momentum of high-level exchanges with Finland and exchange views on bilateral relations in time. Both sides should actively push for exchanges between their parliaments and parties and build up mutual understanding. The Agreement on Economic, Industrial and Technological Cooperation between China and Finland should be seriously implemented to expand cooperation in the areas of information communications, forestry, environmental protection and energy saving. Both sides should also strengthen consultations and coordination on major international and regional issues and safeguard diversity of world civilizations.

Vanhanen said that Finland is China's old friend and since the establishment of diplomatic ties in1950, bilateral relations have been developing smoothly and both sides have maintained frequent exchanges of high-level visits and witnessed rapid development of economic and trade ties. The investment of Finnish businesses in China has reached 5 billion euro. Finland has advantages in the fields of environmental protection, energy saving, timber, architecture and social security and would like to further strengthen cooperation with China in these areas. Finland expects Premier Wen to attend the 9th China-EU leaders' meeting and the 6th Asia-Europe summit to be held there this autumn. Vanhanen reaffirmed once again that the Finnish government resolutely pursues the one-China policy.

When talking about China-EU relations, Wen said that currently the development of comprehensive strategic partnership between China and EU enjoys sound momentum. China would like to strengthen political exchanges based on mutual respect, equality and mutual benefits, deepen mutually beneficial cooperation and properly resolve issues of each other's concern including trade disputes through dialogue and consultations. It is hoped that Finland will make new contributions to development of China-EU relations during its EU rotating presidency in the second half of this year.

Wen emphasized that the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) is beneficial for enhancing exchanges and cooperation between Asia and Europe and promoting dialogue between civilizations and multilateralism, and plays an important role in developing new-type Asia-Europe comprehensive partnership. China would like to participate in Asia-Europe cooperation in a more active attitude and do its utmost to cooperate with Finland in holding the Asia-Europe summit this year in a bid to push for long-term, steady and sound development of Asia-Europe relations.

Vanhanen noted that in recent years China-EU relations have been developing soundly with the trade volume exceeding 200 billion US dollars last year. Finland hopes to actively push for in-depth development of China-EU cooperative relations in all areas during its EU presidency.

Following the talks, the two leaders also jointly met with Finnish business people. Wen indicated that both countries are highly complementary in the economic area and enjoy huge potential for development. China welcomes more Finnish businesses to invest and develop there and participate in China's economic development. China will continue to offer facilitation for Finnish enterprises in the areas of law and investment environment.

Prior to the talks, Wen held a ceremony at the Square outside the East Gate of the Great Hall of the People to welcome Vanhanen's visit to China. Vice-Chairman of the Central Committee of the Chinese Peasants and Workers Democratic Party Chen Jiansheng, Vice Foreign Minister Dai Bingguo, Chinese Ambassador to Finland Zhang Zhijian and other officials attended the welcoming ceremony.