Chinese Vice-Premier Hui Liangyu said Tuesday in a meeting with Finnish Minister of Agriculture and Forestry Juha Korkeaoja and other Finnish guests that China strongly hopes to expand agricultural cooperation with the northern European nation.

China and Finland are highly complementary in such spheres as agriculture, forestry and animal husbandry, and cooperation will have "broad prospects," Hui told Korkeaoja.

China has said managing agriculture, rural development and farmers are priority government responsibilities, especially in light of the growing income gap between rural and urban residents.

"We will continue advancing the reform and opening up, and draw on the experience of advanced technology and experiences in the development of agriculture and rural areas," Hui said. "I hope China and Finland will further increase exchanges and broaden the area of cooperation."

China and Finland established their full diplomatic relations 55 years ago. Two-way trade grew by 59 percent last year, making Finland the largest trading partner with China among northern European nations.

Finnish companies, like Nokia mobile phones and forestry technology firms, are well-known in China.

Finland, which became a travel destination for Chinese tourists last September, estimates that the number of Chinese tourists it is expected to receive will reach 250,000 by the year 2010, up from 70,000 in 2003.

The Finnish minister, who arrived in Beijing last Saturday on his first visit to China, signed a memo of cooperation with the Chinese minister of agriculture. He also visited China's ministry of forestry in addition to touring forests and animal farms in northwestern Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region before returning home.

He said he is "satisfied" with the outcome of his current visit, adding that there is a "great potential" for bilateral cooperation in agriculture, forestry, and animal husbandry.

Finnish Trade and Development Minister Paula Lehtomaeki visited China last November with entrepreneurs from more than 20 large firms specializing in energy resources, environment and forestry, which he said indicated the keen interest of the Finnish government and business circles in the Chinese market.