On the first full day of Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo’s official visit to Beijing, NPC Standing-Committee Chairman Zhao Leji said China is ready to "expand cultural and people-to-people exchange" with Finland and provide the legal frameworks needed to facilitate mobility.
During the meeting in the Great Hall of the People on 27 January, Zhao praised Finland’s early recognition of the PRC and called for new parliamentary-level cooperation on education, tourism and research. Orpo responded that Finland “is willing to deepen cooperation… and strengthen exchange between [our] legislative bodies,” signalling Helsinki’s interest in smoother travel and project-based work visas for students, scientists and clean-tech experts.
![Orpo and China’s top legislator vow deeper people-to-people exchange]()
Although no concrete visa concession was announced, Finnish officials travelling with the delegation told reporters that negotiations on a new bilateral youth-mobility scheme and on recognising each other’s e-signatures for commercial documents are “advancing”. For multinational employers, any such agreements could cut red tape for short-term assignees moving between R&D hubs in Espoo and China’s Yangtze River Delta.
The visit also helps Finland hedge against geopolitical headwinds: as an EU and NATO member bordering Russia, Helsinki wants to keep economic channels open in Asia without breaching EU common-position rules.
During the meeting in the Great Hall of the People on 27 January, Zhao praised Finland’s early recognition of the PRC and called for new parliamentary-level cooperation on education, tourism and research. Orpo responded that Finland “is willing to deepen cooperation… and strengthen exchange between [our] legislative bodies,” signalling Helsinki’s interest in smoother travel and project-based work visas for students, scientists and clean-tech experts.
Although no concrete visa concession was announced, Finnish officials travelling with the delegation told reporters that negotiations on a new bilateral youth-mobility scheme and on recognising each other’s e-signatures for commercial documents are “advancing”. For multinational employers, any such agreements could cut red tape for short-term assignees moving between R&D hubs in Espoo and China’s Yangtze River Delta.
The visit also helps Finland hedge against geopolitical headwinds: as an EU and NATO member bordering Russia, Helsinki wants to keep economic channels open in Asia without breaching EU common-position rules.
Source: Xinhua
