Finnish leader talks trade, climate change with President Xi

In an exclusive interview with China Daily on Monday, Finnish President Sauli Niinisto said he is well prepared to host President Xi Jinping and discuss free trade and the Paris Climate Change Agreement by going beyond bilateral relations. [Photo by Wang Mingjie/chinadaily.com.cn]

Praising his Chinese counterpart for his "stable and deep" thinking, Finnish President Sauli Niinisto said he was pleased to get the chance to discuss free trade and the Paris Climate Change Agreement with President Xi Jinping at their meeting.

"It is a short visit but we are doing our best to make our great visitor President Xi and his wife feel at home," Niinisto told China Daily in an exclusive interview on Monday.

Xi started his visit to Finland on Tuesday, and is then set to leave for the United States where he will meet with US President Donald Trump.

Niinisto said in the interview in Helsinki's presidential palace that he expects the two nations' bilateral relationship to be elevated to a new level.

Four years ago, during his visit to China, Niinisto said he agreed with President Xi that there would be a new kind of strategic partnership between the countries. "What we have seen in concrete terms is a lot of development in business but also in our political contacts," said Niinisto as he looked back on his first meeting with China's president after Xi became head of state in 2012.

Niinisto said he has a sound personal relationship with Xi following several meetings over the years at various events.

"It has been my great honor to meet him several times and I found President Xi has very stable and deep thinking," said Niinisto. "It is great to have such a leader."

He said it is important for leaders to have contact with each other at a time when the world faces a range of problems.

"Now that President Xi is continuing from here to the United States, I think the whole world is looking at how that visit will go," said Niinisto, who mentioned his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin last week at the Arctic Forum.

Niinisto said he appreciated the points Xi raised in Davos earlier this year and especially his attitude toward free trade. He said Xi's opinions are very similar to those of the European Union and Finland, which are both keen supporters of free trade.

And Niinisto emphasized the importance of maintaining the Paris Climate Change Agreement, another area in which China and the EU share similar views.

"Apart from other questions, these are very big ones and how we enhance that kind of thinking is important," Niinisto said.

"That is also one element why we are so eager to see what is going to happen." He said cooperation around green technology is one area where the nations may work closely together.

"The innovation in clean-tech is quite important because this is essential when urbanization is still booming China." He said Chinese companies want to invest in Finland and are especially interested in renewable energy.

Zheng Jinqiang contributed to this story.