Han: Sweden can help guard global trade

China would like to work with Sweden in safeguarding the multilateral trading system and promoting a more open, inclusive and balanced global economy, Vice-Premier Han Zheng said on Friday.

Han spoke while meeting with Jacob Wallenberg, chairman of the board of directors of Swedish company Investor AB, on Friday. The company has a number of subsidiary enterprises like Ericsson operating in China.

They exchanged views on the world economy, free trade, technological innovation and other fields. The vice-premier said friendship, cooperation and mutual benefit have been a main focus of relations between the two nations, and both should work together to promote their sustainable and healthy development.

Economic globalization is an unstoppable trend, and China will open its doors even wider, Han said. The Wallenberg financial group and Investor AB are welcome to expand in China and develop in win-win cooperation, he said.

Wallenberg said companies under Investor AB have about 60,000 employees in China. The Swedish company firmly supports free trade and considers of great importance its relations with China and the Chinese market, he said. His group would like to strengthen cooperation with China in technological innovation and other fields, he said.

Han discussed the status of China’s latest opening-up endeavors, which have attracted a number of multinational companies. In July, German chemical company BASF signed an agreement to build a solely owned factory in Guangdong province at a cost of 10 billion euros ($11.6 billion).

Wallenberg was one of the overseas members of the advisory board of the School of Economics and Management of Tsinghua University to meet with Vice-President Wang Qishan on Friday.