On the morning of April 1, Vice Minister of Commerce and Deputy China International Trade Representative Ling Ji and State Secretary to Minister for International Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade of Sweden Håkan Jevrell co-chaired the 21st meeting of China-Sweden Joint Committee on Economic, Industrial and Technical Cooperation. Chargé d’Affaires of the Chinese Embassy in Sweden Wan Degang, Counselor Kang Wen, who is in charge of the embassy’s economic and commercial affairs, and Swedish Ambassador to China attended the meeting.

Minister Ling Ji stated that this year marks the 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between China and Sweden and the 50th anniversary of China-EU diplomatic relations, opening a new chapter in China-Sweden and China-EU economic and trade relations. Recently, during a meeting with global business leaders, President Xi Jinping reaffirmed China’s unwavering commitment to advancing reform and opening up, and emphasized that China’s doors will only open wider and that the policy of welcoming foreign investment has not changed and will not change. Minister Ling Ji expressed the hope that both sides would uphold the original aspirations of diplomatic ties featuring mutual respect, equality and mutual benefit, create a fair, transparent, and non-discriminatory business environment for enterprises, strengthen cooperation in scientific and technological innovation, and explore the potential for collaboration in areas such as green transition, artificial intelligence, and information technology to empower China-Sweden economic and trade cooperation.

State Secretary Håkan Jevrell emphasized that the Swedish government attaches great importance to economic and trade cooperation with China and would like to expand the export of Swedish agricultural and food products to China, support Swedish enterprises in increasing investment in China, and promote further cooperation between enterprises in areas such as green transition and digital economy. Both sides agreed that there are no winners in trade wars, and imposing additional tariffs violates WTO rules. China and Sweden will stay committed to free trade and economic globalization, jointly uphold the multilateral trading system with the WTO at its core, and firmly oppose unilateralism and protectionism. The Swedish side expects the EU and China to resolve trade frictions, including the electric vehicle case, through dialogue and consultation. 

Following the meeting, both sides jointly released the Joint Statement on the Establishment of Chinese-Swedish Working Group on Green Transition Investments.

On the sidelines of the meeting, Minister Ling Ji met with Minister for International Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade of Sweden Benjamin Dousa.