OSLO, July 7 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Tuesday wrapped up his visits to Denmark, Sweden, Finland and Norway, with consensus reached with four Nordic countries to uphold bilateral partnerships and strengthen mutually beneficial cooperation in trade, economy and other key areas.

Wang, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, met with Danish King Frederik X, Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson, Finnish President Alexander Stubb and Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store during his six-day visit.

China and the four Nordic countries also pledged to deepen green and innovation cooperation, enhance collaboration on global governance, and expand people-to-people exchanges.

COMMITTED TO UPHOLDING PARTNERSHIP

The two sides agreed to further implement the important consensus reached between Chinese President Xi Jinping and the leaders of the four countries, maintain close high-level exchanges, and strengthen strategic communication.

They agreed to further enrich the China-Denmark comprehensive strategic partnership, build sound, stable and sustainable China-Sweden relations, deepen the China-Finland future-oriented new-type cooperative partnership, and explore ways to advance the positioning of the China-Norway partnership, to realize the steady development of the overall partnership between China and the Nordic region.

While the two sides pledged to respect and accommodate each other's core interests and major concerns and properly handle their differences, the four countries reaffirmed their firm commitment to the one-China policy.

The Chinese side stressed that China and Europe are partners rather than rivals, and cooperation should be the defining feature of their relations. Both sides supported strengthening comprehensive dialogue between China and Europe at all levels.

DEEPENING MUTUALLY BENEFICIAL ECONOMIC AND TRADE COOPERATION

The Chinese side underscored that economic and trade cooperation serves as the ballast of relations between China and the four countries; therefore, deepening cooperation is not an option but a necessity, with both sides sharing opportunities through open development and achieving win-win outcomes.

Both sides firmly support free trade and economic globalization and oppose unilateral actions, "decoupling" and disruptions to industrial and supply chains.

Wang reaffirmed that the Chinese market will remain open at a high level to enterprises from all countries, including the four Nordic countries, while expressing his hope that the four countries will provide Chinese enterprises with a fair, just and non-discriminatory business environment.

Meanwhile, the two sides spoke positively of the establishment of the China-European Union (EU) trade and investment consultation mechanism, supporting continued efforts by China and the EU to meet each other halfway and seeking appropriate solutions to their economic and trade differences.

The Chinese side reiterated that China has never deliberately pursued a trade surplus and hopes that the EU will remain open, avoid restrictive legislative measures and ease restrictions on exports of high-value products to China, promoting more balanced and high-quality China-EU trade.

ADVANCING GREEN AND INNOVATIVE COOPERATION

As global leaders, advocates and practitioners of the green transition, China and the four Nordic countries have agreed to deepen cooperation in areas such as low-carbon transition, the circular economy, green shipping and biopharmaceuticals and pledged to strengthen dialogue on global AI governance and explore common governance rules.

The Green Joint Work Programme between the Government of the People's Republic of China and the Government of the Kingdom of Denmark for 2023-2026 has yielded fruitful results. The two sides have agreed to negotiate on a new or upgraded version of the programme, with a focus on closer cooperation in scientific research and innovation, green shipping and healthcare.

The Joint Action Plan between China and Finland on Promoting the Future-oriented New-type Cooperative Partnership for 2025-2029 has also got off to a smooth start, and the two sides will continue to deepen cooperation in such areas as low-carbon development and scientific and technological innovation.

The Joint Statement Between the People's Republic of China and the Kingdom of Norway on the Establishment of Dialogue on the Green Transition is also progressing well, with effective coordination among sectors and cooperation platforms in place.

On China-Sweden cooperation, both countries will conduct regular dialogue and actively advance green and innovation cooperation through existing bilateral mechanisms.

STRENGTHENING COOPERATION ON GLOBAL GOVERNANCE

The two sides had in-depth exchanges of views on the current international situation and multilateral affairs. Both sides agreed to strengthen dialogue on reforming and improving global governance, cooperate closely through multilateral frameworks such as the United Nations, the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the Group of 20, practicing multilateralism and free trade, safeguard the spirit of the UN Charter, and defend the multilateral trading system centered on the WTO.

The two sides also exchanged views on international and regional hotspot issues, including Ukraine and the Middle East. They agreed that all conflicts should be resolved through dialogue and negotiations and that all parties should play a constructive role to this end.

This year marks the beginning of a new decade under the Paris Agreement. Both sides highly value global climate governance, vowing to accelerate the implementation of the consensus reached under the Agreement and expressing expectations that the 31st session of the Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change will send a positive signal in support of multilateralism and accelerated climate action.

PROMOTING PEOPLE-TO-PEOPLE EXCHANGES

Under the new circumstances, China and the four Nordic countries, which enjoy a long history of friendly exchanges, pledged to work toward each other, strengthen exchanges, foster a correct understanding of each other, and dispel misunderstandings.

While the four countries expressed their appreciation for China's unilateral visa-free policy for their citizens, China extended a welcome to more Nordic people and expressed the hope that Nordic countries will provide greater convenience for Chinese citizens traveling to their countries.

Given that China has direct flights to all four Nordic countries, the two sides welcomed more direct flights to facilitate people-to-people exchanges.

They also expressed willingness to encourage and expand friendly exchanges at various levels in education, culture, tourism, language, scientific research, think tanks, youth and local communities, so as to provide sustained and solid public support for the development of bilateral relations.