Shanghai mayor vows to boost cooperation with Norway

Shanghai Mayor Ying Yong met Harald V, King of Norway, and his delegation on Wednesday.

As one of the earliest countries in the West to recognize the establishment of the People’s Republic of China, Norway and China have enjoyed overall healthy diplomatic relations ever since.

Ying said as the country’s biggest economic center and its biggest trading port, Shanghai is accelerating the process of building itself into an international economic, finance, trade, shipping, and a cultural metropolitan by 2020. It will also build itself into a globally influential technology and innovation center that’s dedicated to promoting high quality development and lives for its residents.

Opening up is China’s state policy and Shanghai is the epitome of the country’s opening-up and reforms. In November, the city will host the country’s first China International Import Expo, which will be the country’s major step to further open up its markets and it’s glad to see countries such as Norway to participate in the expo, the mayor said.

Shanghai and Norway have great trading potentials and the city will strengthen its cooperation in trade, maritime industry, technologies, and cultural industries with Norway under the framework of the consensus reached by the top leadership of both countries, Ying added.

Harald V said he and his wife Sonja Haraldsen visited Shanghai in 1997 and the city has undergone tremendous and impressive changes.

Norway and China have great cooperation prospects in trade and maritime industries, and Norway hopes to deepen its cooperation with Shanghai to promote the sustainable development of the maritime industries.

Geir Pedersen, Norway’s ambassador to China; Wang Min, China’s ambassador to Norway; and Xu Kunlin, vice-mayor of Shanghai, also attended the meeting.