China's Xi seeks closer ties with Finland over green energy and Ukraine peace plan

Tuesday's agenda included a Sino-Finnish business forum aimed at strengthening bilateral economic relations. According to China's official Xinhua news agency, more than 100 representatives of the Finnish and Chinese governments and business communities attended the meeting led by Stubb and Chinese Vice President Han Zheng.

Stubb will also attend a business summit with Finnish and Chinese companies in Shanghai.

His trip comes amid a renewed crisis since Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, with North Korea reportedly sending frontline troops to support the Russian military. China's close ties with Moscow and Pyongyang appear to make it a crucial leverage holder.

In a July interview with Bloomberg, Stubb said Russia was “so dependent on China right now” that “one phone call from President Xi Jinping would solve this crisis.”

“If he [Xi] “If we said, ‘It’s time to start negotiating peace,’ Russia would be obligated to do it,” Stubb said. “They would have no other choice.”

Finland, a member of the European Union, shares a 1,340 km (832 mile) border with Russia. In May 2022, three months after the invasion of Ukraine, Finland applied for NATO membership and officially joined the bloc in April last year. Finland's inclusion more than doubled NATO's border with Russia, which has cited the bloc's eastward expansion as the reason for its military campaign in Ukraine.

Besides the Ukraine crisis, EU-China relations also face challenges on the trade front, with Brussels calling for reducing dependence on the Chinese supply chain and accusing Beijing of flooding European markets with new products cheaper energy in a context of “overcapacity” financed by the State.

Like most EU members, Finland has recorded a significant trade deficit in recent years with China, although the world's second-largest economy remains its main Asian trading partner.

Bilateral trade amounted to $8.2 billion last year, down 16.5% from 2022, according to official Chinese data.

Finland's trade deficit with China for this period amounted to 1.7 billion US dollars.

Strong trade relations between China and Russia since the invasion of Ukraine have prompted Western leaders to question Beijing's proclaimed stance of neutrality.

In an exclusive interview with the South China Morning Post in May, Finnish Foreign Trade and Development Minister Ville Tavio said EU-China relations “will only get better” despite Brussels' decision to cut tariffs. risks linked to Beijing. However, Chinese leaders will need to build trust with the bloc's business entities that have burned their fingers in Russia.

The debate over risk reduction “comes from the companies themselves,” he said. “When Finland invested in Russia, and we lost those investments, because of Russia's behavior, I think it's natural that China only benefits from continuing to build trust.”

Finland could also be a potential key player in China's ambitions for scientific exploration in the Arctic.

Last week, Beijing said it was plans to send a crewed submersible to explore the Arctic seabed.

At the same time, Finland is seeking to deepen its polar cooperation with the United States. The United States has expressed concerns about China's growing presence in the Arctic – particularly in collaboration with Russia – and is working to strengthen its own shipbuilding capabilities.

Earlier this year, the United States, Canada and Finland announced a joint project to develop polar ships, including icebreakers.

Tavio also said that Finland would like to maintain cooperation with China within the framework of the Arctic Council, but that its increasingly close relations with Russia risked becoming an obstacle.

This article was originally published in the South China Morning Post (SCMP)the most authoritative voice in reporting on China and Asia for more than a century. For more SCMP stories, please explore the SCMP application or visit SCMP Facebook And Twitter pages. Copyright 2024 South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.

Copyright (c) 2024. South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.