Finland is to boost economic cooperation with southern China's Guangdong province, said visiting Finnish Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen in Guangzhou Thursday.

When meeting with provincial governor Huang Huahua, Vanhanen said Finland will step up cooperation with Guangdong in such fields as electronics, paper-making, mechanics, bio-pharmacy, environmental protection and tourism.

He said Finland's largest paper-making company is to invest 250 million US dollars here for setting up a cardboard factory in Guangdong's resort city of Zhuhai.

Huang said Guangdong boasted a bilateral trade volume of 789 million dollars with Finland, an increase of 20 percent over previous year.

Finland now has 11 major investment projects in Guangdong province, including a Nokia production base which is Nokia's most important production center worldwide, Huang said.

He said the there are still potentials to tap for the two sides for Finland is rich in resources while Guangdong has a huge market and a sound manufacturing industrial basis.

Vahanen arrived here Wednesday from Shanghai, China's economic hub. It is Vanhanen's first China tour in capacity of prime minister.

Source: Xinhua