On October 15th, Wang Yupeng, Deputy Director of the European Department of the Ministry of Commerce, stated at a special press conference that from January to August this year, the trade volume between China and the five Nordic countries reached $35.44 billion, a year-on-year increase of 5.7%. The scale and quality of trade between the two sides continue to expand and improve.

Against the backdrop of the current weak global economic recovery, maintaining such growth is particularly commendable.

It is reported that the 2024 China-Nordic Economic and Trade Cooperation Forum will be held soon in Wuhan, Hubei.

Wang Yupeng said that the Nordic Forum is China's first and currently the only long-term mechanism for economic and trade cooperation specifically targeting Nordic countries. It has played an active role in promoting Hubei Province's exchanges with Europe and advancing China's economic and trade cooperation with Nordic countries.

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Chinese enterprises continue to expand their market layout in the Nordic region.

The quality of trade between China and Nordic countries is high and maintains growth against the trend.

He said that among them, the trade volume between China and Sweden and Denmark has both exceeded $10 billion. From the current trend, this year's trade volume between China and the five Nordic countries is expected to exceed $50 billion, an increase of more than $10 billion compared to when the first forum was held. High-value-added products such as computers, communication equipment, pharmaceutical products, ships, automobiles, and spare parts are the main forces in both imports and exports.

At the same time, Nordic countries' investment cooperation with China continues to deepen.

He said that Nordic countries are important sources of foreign investment for China and destinations for China's foreign investment. To date, the five Nordic countries have made a cumulative direct investment in China of more than $15 billion, with Sweden and Denmark's investment in China both exceeding $5 billion, ranking among the top European countries.

In recent years, companies such as Sweden's IKEA, Denmark's Novo Nordisk, Norway's Yara International, and Finland's Lindström have been deeply involved in the Chinese market, continuously increasing their investment in China in fields such as biomedicine, home furnishings, and chemical industry, sharing the development opportunities in China.He also introduced that Chinese companies are continuously expanding their presence in the Nordic market. In the first eight months of this year, China's direct investment in Nordic countries amounted to about $1 billion, accounting for more than one-fifth of China's investment in Europe during the same period.

"New energy vehicle brands such as BYD, NIO, and XPeng have won the favor of many Nordic markets. Power battery companies like Shanshui, Koda Li, and Wuxi Pioneer have invested in factories in countries such as Sweden and Finland. Geely, Huawei, and Shanghai Electric have established research and development institutions in Nordic countries. Nordic countries have become an important bridgehead for Chinese companies to enter Europe," he said.

Overall, China's economic and trade cooperation with Nordic countries is thriving and promising for the future. Both China and Nordic countries are staunch supporters of multilateralism and free trade. We look forward to working with Nordic countries to jointly safeguard the multilateral trade system centered on the World Trade Organization, maintain the stability of China-Europe industrial and supply chains, and jointly oppose protectionism in trade and investment fields.

Continuously deepening economic and trade cooperation with the Nordic region

Regarding the upcoming 2024 China-Nordic Economic and Trade Cooperation Forum, he said: "In recent years, we have continuously deepened economic and trade cooperation with the Nordic region, striving to make the Nordic Forum a golden brand for China's economic and trade exchanges and cooperation with Europe."

He introduced that this forum will focus on developing new quality productive forces according to local conditions, focusing on new fields and new tracks such as green and low-carbon, digital economy, and holding more than 10 special activities such as the Green Shipping Development Forum, New Energy Vehicle Industry Chain Docking Meeting, and Cross-Border E-Commerce Cooperation Forum.

At the same time, "to further expand the connotation and improve efficiency and quality, a series of activities such as city characteristic industry promotion, multinational company dialogues, open platform inspections, and enterprise city-state tours will be held. Representatives of Nordic countries in China, enterprises and business associations, and well-known domestic entrepreneurs and scholars will be invited to participate. Through precise docking and pragmatic negotiations, more cooperation results will be achieved." He said that the forum will create a comprehensive exhibition area with a total area of 1,500 square meters, integrating docking negotiations, cultural exchanges, and scene experiences. It will set up themes such as Nordic scenery, dual-carbon cooperation, Hubei-Europe economic and trade cooperation, new energy and intelligent connected vehicles, fully demonstrating high-level opening and high-quality development.

At the same time, he introduced that during the Nordic Forum, a series of activities with Nordic characteristics will be held, such as Nordic food tasting, touring the two rivers and four banks, watching special light shows, and museum nights. A Nordic quality life hall has been carefully designed to showcase representative consumer brands and specialty products from the five Nordic countries, bringing a new experience to participating guests.

According to reports, in recent years, Europe has always been Hubei's second-largest import and export market. In 2023, Hubei's bilateral trade scale with Europe reached 124.31 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 28.3%, with a growth rate exceeding the provincial average level by 22.5 percentage points, ranking first among all continents. From January to August this year, the province achieved import and export to Europe of 74.38 billion yuan, of which exports were 56.49 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 4.9%.