On September 27, 2006, Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg met with Chinese Vice Premier Zeng Peiyan, who is in Oslo for an official visit. Both sides reached consensus on the further development of bilateral ties and trade cooperation, and other issues of common concern.

Zeng first conveyed the cordial greetings and best wishes from Premier Wen Jiabao to Stoltenberg. With the joint efforts of both sides, the development of Sino-Norwegian ties had maintained strong momentum in recent years, with frequent exchanges of high-level visits, increasing political mutual understanding and satisfactory trade cooperation, said Zeng. China, Norway's largest trade partner in Asia, had carried out fruitful cooperation with the Scandinavian country in environmental protection, science and technology, health, culture and education and other fields, he added.

Acknowledging that further development of bilateral cooperation would serve the interests of both peoples, Zeng urged the two countries to further upgrade their trade cooperation and explore new areas for future cooperation in a bid to push for pragmatic cooperation in the areas of energy saving, environmental protection, oil and gas exploitation, clean energy, renewable energy, fishery and new materials. Moreover, Zeng said China was ready to consult and coordinate with Norway on major international and regional issues, adding that the two sides would support each other in international organizations such as the United Nations, and jointly contribute to world peace and development. Zeng called for the two countries to attach importance to each other's concerns and cautiously handle sensitive issues in bilateral ties in the principle of mutual respect to ensure sound and steady development of the relations.

Stoltenberg said China has been developing rapidly since its adoption of the reform and opening up policy and has achieved tremendous progress. He said his country highly valued its friendly cooperation with China and wished to strengthen cooperation on issues such as trade liberalization, energy saving and exploration, environmental protection and the reforms of the United Nations. On the same day, Zeng held talks with Norwegian Minister of Trade and Industry Odd Eriksen and the two leaders attended the signing ceremony of a memorandum of understanding between Norway's Ministry of Petroleum and Energy and the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) of China on cooperation in energy saving and renewable energy, as well as a contract on the building of two VLCCs by China State Shipbuilding Corporation (CSSC) for Norwegian enterprises.

Zeng also met with Norwegian Finance Minister Kristin Haivorsen and inspected telecommunication business of Zhongxing Telecom (ZTE) in Norway, an ecological demonstration area and Telenor. On the evening, Zeng met with the staff of the Chinese Embassy in Norway and representatives from Chinese-funded institutions and Chinese students.