"Leading Finnish telecommunications companies such as Nokia have created great cooperative opportunities for both countries and we hope Finland and China can join efforts in more areas," Vilen told a news conference in Beijing yesterday.

The trade minister is currently on a trade promotion visit to China, leading the largest-ever Finnish business delegation to come to the country, representing paper making, energy, mining and health care sectors.

According to the minister, doing business in China is no longer something new and unusual for Finnish firms; and, in fact, China has become an extremely important market for Finnish companies moving into international markets.

China, the minister said, is the most important market in Asia for Finland and Finland is the largest Nordic trading partner of China.

In 2001, Finnish trade with China showed a small surplus. The value of exports from Finland to China was 1.26 billion euros (US$1.22 billion) while Chinese exports to Finland totaled 1.1 billion euros (US$1.06 billion), according to the minister.

"Globalization makes us more dependent on each other and good trade relations are flourishing," said Vilen, "China's accession to the World Trade Organization opens up new perspectives for our mutual involvement in the world economy by making the investment environment more attractive and more accessible for Finnish companies."

The minister revealed that the Nordic country plans to open a new consulate in Guangzhou to help Finnish firms expand their markets and develop new business relations in the southern part of China.

"It (the opening of the consulate) is well on the track. We hope we will open it some time next year," said the minister.

Finland, according to the minister, also aims to identify new opportunities in the vast western market in China.

(Xinhua News Agency September 18, 2002)