On April 5, 2017 local time, President Xi Jinping met with Speaker of Parliament Maria Lohela of Finland in Helsinki.

Xi Jinping pointed out that Finland walks at the forefront of western countries in establishing diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China and developing cooperation with China. China and Finland enjoy mutual respect and equal treatment, and bilateral relations have always maintained steady and healthy development. At present, China-Finland relations have entered a fast lane of comprehensive development featuring close high-level exchanges, ever-deepening political mutual trust, complementary and mutually beneficial practical cooperation in various fields, rich and colorful people-to-people and cultural exchanges and increasingly deepening friendship between the two peoples. Attaching great importance to the development of China-Finland relations, China is willing to, together with Finland, constantly elevate bilateral relations to new highs, so as to benefit the two peoples.

Appreciating Speaker of Parliament Maria Lohela's efforts in actively advancing the exchanges between legislative institutions of the two countries, Xi Jinping stressed that the Finnish Parliament was one of the earliest parliaments of western countries to conduct friendly exchanges with the National People's Congress (NPC) of China. 2016 marks the 60th anniversary of bilateral exchanges between the legislative institutions. For a long period, bilateral cooperation between legislative institutions has played an important role in China-Finland relations. China supports the legislative institutions of both countries to improve the existing cooperation mechanism, and make positive contributions to consolidating the social and public opinion foundation of bilateral relations. Both sides should maintain the frequentness of exchanges at all levels, conduct more active and diversified communication and interaction, and create conditions for members of parliament(MPS), especially young MPS to deepen understanding. Both sides should make good use of the platform of friendly cities to advance bilateral local exchanges and practical cooperation, and enhance non-governmental friendship. China-Nordic cooperation is an important supplement and component of China-Finland as well as China-Europe relations. It is hoped that the Finnish side could continue to actively participate in and push forward China-Nordic cooperation.

Maria Lohela expressed that the Finnish Parliament highly values and warmly welcomes President Xi Jinping's state visit to Finland. Finland-China traditional friendship is deeply rooted in the hearts of the Finnish people, and the two peoples have friendly sentiment towards each other. The Finnish side admires China's achievements in economic and social development, regards China's development as Finland's opportunity, and stands ready to, together with China, intensify exchanges and cooperation in such fields as economy, trade, culture and winter sports as well as international affairs. The friendly exchanges between the Finnish Parliament and the NPC have lasted for over 60 years, which has made positive contributions to the development of bilateral relations. The Finnish Parliament is willing to deepen exchanges with China's legislative institution, and propel the exchanges between young MPS of the two countries in particular.

Wang Huning, Wang Yang, Li Zhanshu, Yang Jiechi and others attended the meeting.