Signing ceremony at the forum Photo: Courtesy of the China-Nordic Smart City Forum

Against the backdrop of the rising tensions over unilateralism and the global recession, China and the Nordic countries are embracing multilateralism by accelerating exploration of science and technology cooperation on smart cities in which both sides find more reciprocal benefits for growth.

Experts believe that in the transformation of digitalization and modernization of cities, China has been an open sandbox that provides new opportunities for the world's advanced technologies to bear fruits.

The remarks came after the China-Nordic Smart City Forum on Thursday where government and business representatives from both sides shared thoughts and reached deals for sustainable development.

Lin Ruihua, a deputy director general with the China Association for Science and Technology, said at the forum that the Chinese government is strengthening international cooperation in the field of science and technology, integrating itself more actively into the global innovation network, and enhancing its own scientific and technological innovation capability through opening up and cooperation.

"While both China and Nordic countries actively support the UN Sustainable Development Goals 2030, there are valuable experiences and huge space for cooperation to share in innovation and sustainable development," Lin said.

Morten Kruse, counselor at the Danish Embassy in China, also said that while Denmark and China are very different in size, there are a lot of valuable experiences it can share.

Although Denmark has been advancing smart cities, Kruse noted that "smart city and sustainable solutions can only be achieved by mutual cooperation and collaboration."

The event saw signing agreements between companies and organizations on both sides on technology cooperation and application.

Jacob Rognhaug, vice president of Tomra Group from Norway, who also participated in the event, was excited about the fact that their competence in waste management technology could help the industry in China take the next step with more automated processes.

"China has the highest consumption level in one single country and is the biggest waste generator with lots of opportunities," said Rognhaug, noting that they have already cooperated with many recycling companies in China.

Zeng Shuai, COO of the Sino-Scandinavian Innovation and Entrepreneurship Centre, told the Global Times that some Nordic companies may have advanced technologies but because of the small population and high production costs in the region, they want to be able to set up production in China where they can embrace China's huge market, high-end technical talent and low production costs.

"China is promoting urban development and digital transformation and we hope to build a technology exchange mechanism for businesses between China and the Nordic countries, so that the advantages of the two sides can truly complement each other," said Zeng.

The participating companies included Ericsson from Sweden that has close cooperation with the Chinese market on 5G technology.

"We believe there are definitely opportunities for business cooperation in some cutting-edge technologies on both sides," said Zeng.