Sundback, also vice president of the telecommunications giant Nokia, made the remarks at a seminar to celebrate the 50th anniversary of diplomatic ties between China and Finland.

Former FSTC chairman Georg Ehrnrooth agreed that the traditional economic relationship between China and Finland has helped deepen bilateral cooperation in economy and industry, which has already become an important part of bilateral relations.

Sino-Finnish trade has witnessed rapid development over the past decade, with a trade volume four times that between 1980 and 1990.

Sino-Finnish trade volume hit 13.5 billion euro in 1999, and for the first half of this year reached 8.3 billion euro.

The latest statistics show that nearly 160 Finnish enterprises have to date established joint ventures in China.

Meanwhile, many Finnish enterprises like the Fortum Oil and Gas Oy, Forest Alliance Finland and Netsa-Serla Corporation have all expressed great confidence in the prospect of development in China.

The economic progress in China has provided Finnish enterprises with opportunities to make investment, and these investments in turn have helped China's industry to grow, Ehrnrooth said.

(Xinhua 10/31/2000)