On April 26, 2006, Chairman Wu Bangguo of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC) met with visiting Finnish Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen in the Great Hall of the People.

Wu said that since the establishment of diplomatic ties, both sides have conducted fruitful cooperation in the areas of politics, economy & trade, culture, education, science & technology, judicature and tourism. Both sides are important trading partners of each other in their respective regions. Both economies are highly complementary and enjoy broad cooperative prospect.

Wu indicated that parliamentary exchanges are an important part of bilateral relations. In recent years, the NPC of China has always maintained much close ties with the Finnish Parliament and would like to further strengthen exchanges and cooperation between both sides.

Wu emphasized that China attaches great importance to developing relations with the EU, deems it an important cooperative partner and would like to make joint efforts with Finland to push for in-depth development of China-EU comprehensive strategic partnership.

Vanhanen noted that both countries have always kept sound cooperative relations with bilateral trade growing rapidly and are important trading partners of each other. Finland hopes to strengthen bilateral cooperation in the areas of energy, environmental protection and tourism and expects that the two governments will encourage businesses from both sides to strengthen cooperation and increase mutual investment in high-tech and other fields. Vanhanen also thanked the NPC for dispatching a high-level delegation to Finland to attend centennial activities of the Finnish Parliament.

Wu also briefed on the Fourth Session of the Tenth National People's Congress, the 11th Five-Year Plan and China's efforts in strengthening democracy and building the legal system.