Chinese, Finnish presidents meet in Netherlands, pledging closer cooperation

NOORDWIJK, the Netherlands, March 23 -- Chinese President Xi Jinping met with his Finnish counterpart Sauli Niinisto here on Sunday, and the two leaders pledged to boost bilateral cooperation.

It was the second meeting between the two presidents in a year. In April last year, Niinisto visited China and the two presidents agreed to develop a new type of cooperative partnership between the two countries.

During Sunday's meeting, Xi said China-Finland cooperation on investment, environmental protection, innovation and urbanization has achieved new results over the past year, among which are the "Beautiful Beijing" environmental protection project, and the FinChi Innovation Center.

Xi said he hopes the two sides will speed up negotiations on a new political document and blueprint for their cooperation in various areas in a more effective manner.

He also called for joint efforts for next year's Helsinki Festival, at which China will be the principal guest country.

Xi said China stands ready to work together with Finland, an important member of the European Union (EU), to boost China-Europe cooperation.

Hailing the smooth cooperation between the two countries, Niinisto said the Finnish side wishes to sign a political document with China as soon as possible and constantly push forward the bilateral relationship.

Finland welcomes China's participation in the North Pole affairs and is willing to cooperate with the Chinese side in this regard, noted the Finnish leader.

Niinisto said Xi's upcoming visit to the EU headquarters is of historic significance and will bring new opportunities of cooperation for Finland as well as Europe as a whole.

The Finnish side will make contribution to the development of the Europe-China relationship, he said.

Xi and Niinisto are both in the Netherlands to attend the third Nuclear Security Summit slated for Monday and Tuesday in The Hague.

Xi will visit the EU headquarters from March 31 to April 1, invited by European Council President Herman Van Rompuy and European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso.