Xi Jinping's article in Finnish newspaper hailed in Finland

The Finnish people have responded positively after Chinese President Xi Jinping published a signed article on the two countries "enduring friendship".

The article was published in the Helsinki Times, ahead of the President's visit to the Nordic country, which begins Tuesday and has been praised by scholars and senior figures in society as showing that China wants to take things in the right direction.

CRI's Guan Chao has more.

Alexander Stubb has served as Finnish prime minister, foreign minister and the minister for European affairs and foreign trade.

He has described President Xi Jinping's visit as of great significance to Finland, with this year marking the centenary of Finland's independence.

" I actually think that China is going to take the lead in world trade, in free trade, in globalization, partially because of its own interests, but partially also because it believes globalization is a good thing. And I think the president's article here in Helsinki Times or his speech in Davos at the World Economic Forum are all taking things, I think, in the right directions."

China was one of the first countries to recognize the Independence of Finland 100 years ago, and the two countries have kept a good relationship ever since.

The Finnish Funding Agency for Innovation is a world-leading investor in innovation. It has established close cooperation with China in the field of science and technology. Its executive director, Mika Lautanala, has said that he can see opportunities stemming from Xi Jinping's article.

"He has been here before, not as president, but as other positions, and recognized our beautiful nature which is bringing a lot of Chinese tourists, especially to Lapland. He also mentioned that the very first time China was involved in the Olympic Games was in 1952 here in Helsinki, and also mentioned that innovation is something that he is looking after in this country. I think now since China is hosting the Winter Olympics in 2022 in Beijing, it's an opportunity for us to also bring innovation activities into the Olympics."

Also commenting on the article, Aalto University vice president Eero Eloranta has said that he is impressed that Xi Jinping has mentioned innovative entrepreneurship, clean energy and sustainable development.

"I was so delighted that he mentioned terms like innovation, entrepreneurship, clean energy, sustainability, kind of stuff and other areas. And it's so interesting and important that really, these are the areas where we in Aalto University are trying to invest a lot and educate people and to do research. So I'm looking forward very positively to have the president here and promote the ideas that we are really sincerely aiming to promote as well."

The match between Chinese capital and Finnish innovation was represented by Nokia which won the favor of Chinese consumers with its quality.

Former director of Nokia's Chinese office, Marco, said that the Chinese market boasts great opportunity for Finnish companies and their presence in China has been growing.

"And Finland has been very active in China. And now what we see happening is that our Finnish companies are well-established as well and that number of companies has been increasing continuously. You may remember Nokia. Nokia has been maybe the biggest contributor on business (for) a long time between Finland and China, and also a great contributor to innovation."

He suggested that Chinese companies pay more attention to Finland's technology in the fields of electric vehicles, bio-tech, and energy, adding that education, which is the source of Finland's innovation, could also become a key area for cooperation.

Speaking of Xi Jinping's visit, Marco believed it is also essential for the two countries to maintain good political ties.

For CRI, this is Guan Chao.