Visiting Chinese vice Premier Li Keqiang said on Friday that the cooperation between China and Finland in green technology sectors has great potential for growth. Li made the remarks while delivering a speech at a formal luncheon hosted by Finnish business leaders in his honor.

"Finland is a world leader in advanced technology and research capabilities and has many innovative global enterprises," he said.

The cooperation between the two sides in green technology sectors has great potential for growth as the economies of China and Finland have respective competitive advantages that are highly complimentary to each other, he added.

The cooperation in this field will help the two sides to move their bilateral business and trade relations to a higher level and into more areas, said Li.

The Chinese vice premier also spoke highly of the progress made by the two sides in bilateral business and trade relations in recent years.

The bilateral trade volume between China and Finland reached 10.8 billion U.S. dollars in 2008. China has been Finland's largest trading partner in Asia for six years in a row, and Finland currently is China's largest trading partner in northern Europe.

Meanwhile, Finnish investment to China has totaled about 10 billion U.S. dollars. Li expressed confidence in China's economy despite the ongoing global financial crisis. He said although China also suffered from the global financial crisis, the large economic stimulus package designed and carried out by the Chinese government is taking effect and the Chinese economy is stabilizing.

He emphasized China has a large population of 1.3 billion people and a vast domestic market, which leaves it much room for maneuvering in face of the global financial crisis. He added that the Chinese economy is fundamentally strong and long-term growth prospects are improving despite the crisis.

Li reiterated that China's strong opposition to protectionism in any form and expressed willingness to make bilateral trade between China and Finland more balanced. He added that the Chinese government will create a good environment for Finnish companies to invest in China.

The Chinese official said China also aims to make the Chinese economy more environment-friendly and growth more sustainable while dealing with the global financial crisis.

Source: Xinhua