China Finland Photo: VCG

Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo will pay an official visit to China from January 25 to 28 at the invitation of Chinese Premier Li Qiang, a foreign ministry spokesperson announced on Thursday.

During the visit, Chinese President Xi Jinping will meet with the Finnish prime minister, while Chinese Premier Li and Chairman of China's National People's Congress Standing Committee Zhao Leji will hold talks and meet with Orpo, respectively, to conduct in-depth exchange of views on bilateral relations and issues of common concern, spokesperson Guo Jiakun told a regular news briefing.

Noting that Finland was among the first Western countries to recognize and establish diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China, Guo said that under the strategic guidance of the two heads of state in recent years, the future-oriented new-type cooperative partnership between the two countries has been deepened, and cooperation in various fields has been steadily advanced.

China attaches great importance to the development of China-Finland relations, and stands ready to work with Finland to maintain close high-level exchanges, consolidate political mutual trust, strengthen economic and trade cooperation, promote people-to-people and cultural exchanges, foster mutual understanding and collaboration in multilateral affairs, and jointly elevate bilateral relations to a new height, Guo said.

According to an official release from the Finnish government on the same day, the purpose of Orpo's visit is to "continue dialogue with the Chinese leadership and to promote business opportunities for Finland in China." 

The release also mentioned that Finland and China have "long-standing, stable relations."

Cui Hongjian, a professor at the Academy of Regional and Global Governance at Beijing Foreign Studies University, told the Global Times that China-Finland ties act as an important stabilizing element in the overall China-EU relationship. This visit seeks both to preserve that stability and to drive further advancement.

"This year marks the opening year of China's 15th Five-Year Plan. The economic development goals outlined in China's plan offer numerous opportunities for European countries like Finland," Cui added. 

Seizing new opportunities

Commenting on questions regarding China-Finland economic and trade cooperation, a Chinese Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) spokesperson said on Thursday that Finnish Prime Minister Orpo will be accompanied on the visit by executives from more than 20 Finnish companies, spanning Finland's strengths in machinery, forestry, innovation, clean energy and food, which fully reflects Finland's strong willingness to deepen bilateral economic and trade relations.

China attaches great importance to economic and trade cooperation with Finland and is working closely with the Finnish side to prepare for the sixth meeting of the China-Finland Committee for Innovative Business Cooperation, providing a valuable platform for companies from both countries to engage in dialogue and jointly explore cooperation opportunities. Chinese and Finnish companies have shown strong interest, with around 50 corporate representatives already registered to attend, the spokesperson said.

During the visit, MOFCOM will sign a memorandum of understanding on strengthening the work of the China-Finland Committee for Innovative Business Cooperation with the Finnish side, and companies from both countries will also sign a number of commercial cooperation agreements.

China welcomes companies from both sides to seize new opportunities arising from China's unwavering commitment to high-level opening-up and to further deepen cooperation in areas including green transition, information technology and the digital economy, according to the spokesperson.

Cui stated that the level and arrangements demonstrate the high importance that the Finnish side attaches to the visit, and reflect Finland's enthusiasm for developing relations with China and deepening practical cooperation.

Jin Ling, director and senior research fellow of the Department for Global Governance and International Organizations at the China Institute of International Studies, said that despite the EU's push in recent years for so-called "de-risking", an increasing number of countries have come to recognize that achieving this strategy is not only unrealistic but has backfired on their own economies.  

The impetus for pragmatic cooperation between China and European countries remains strong, driven in particular by strong and persistent calls from the EU member states and their business communities, Jin added. 

China is one of Finland's most important trading partners. In 2025, bilateral trade exceeded $8 billion, while two-way investment stock surpassed $23 billion, according to MOFCOM. Data from the Finnish government shows that in 2024, Finland's goods exports to China amounted to EUR 3.5 billion ($4.1 billion), with service exports totaling EUR 1.82 billion. Finland's goods imports from China, for their part, totaled EUR 7.5 billion. In 2023, there were 239 subsidiaries of Finnish companies operating in China with a turnover of just over EUR 14 billion from their business in China. 

"It is important to continue dialogue with China on bilateral cooperation and topical international issues, such as challenges in the rules-based system and trade. China is an important export market for Finnish companies and the EU's second largest trading partner," a Finnish government release quoted Prime Minister Orpo as saying on Thursday. 

A more stable partner 

In recent months, Western leaders have been visiting China with notable frequency. After French President Emmanuel Macron's trip late in 2025, the Irish Taoiseach and Canadian Prime Minister made visits in January 2026. Besides the Finnish Prime Minister, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz are also reportedly to visit China in the near future, according to media reports. 

The visit by the Finnish Prime Minister represents a continuation of the positive momentum in bilateral interactions between China and EU member states that has been building since the second half of last year, Cui said. 

Although last year marked the 50th anniversary of China-EU relations, at the institutional level, between China and the EU as a whole, ties have not been particularly smooth. In contrast, interactions between individual EU member states and China have yielded tangible positive results, Cui said. 

As China expressed its willingness to advance economic ties with Finland, MOFCOM spokesperson He Yongqian on Thursday said that China firmly opposes the EU's discriminatory treatment of Chinese firms and the politicization and over-securitization of trade and economic issues, in response to a question on the European Commission's proposal on Tuesday to introduce a new cybersecurity bill that would require the removal of components and equipment from so-called "high-risk suppliers" in critical infrastructure— a move widely seen as targeting Chinese companies. 

Cui noted that China would continue to engage with the EU as an entity, but it will place greater emphasis on concrete, results-oriented cooperation that can produce visible outcomes, particularly at the level of bilateral relations with individual member states.

According to Chinese experts, the US' tariff policies, combined with growing divergences between the US and Europe on geopolitical issues, have further deteriorated transatlantic relations, with increasingly evident negative impacts on the economies of various countries. By comparison, China offers European nations advantages in terms of stability, the sheer scale of its economy, and the further dividends released through ongoing reform and opening-up.

Jin said that the EU member states are all facing considerable development pressures and practical difficulties. Their willingness to cooperate with China remains quite strong, as they seek more stable partners. 

At the very least, in the current year, there is scope for further expansion of interaction and engagement between China and Europe, said Jin.