Chinese President Hu Jintao (2nd L), accompanied by Swedish King Carl XVI Gustaf (3rd L), steers the replica of the 18th century Swedish merchant ship "Gotheborg" as they attend a ceremony for the return of the vessel from a China tour, in Goteborg, Sweden, on June 9, 2007. [Xinhua]

STOCKHOLM: President Hu Jintao wants the business community of Sweden and other Nordic countries to have a bigger share of the vast Chinese market.

Speaking at the welcome dinner hosted by the Sweden-China Trade Council, Hu said the prospect of strengthening mutually beneficial partnership between China and the Nordic countries is surely promising.

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"I hope the entrepreneurs in the Nordic countries would tap the vast Chinese market," he said before concluding his three-day state visit to Sweden.

Among the areas with immense possibilities of cooperation are new energy and environmental protection, especially energy efficiency in the construction sector and hybrid energy and clean energy development, he said.

Calling the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games and the 2010 Shanghai World Expo as "good opportunities", Hu said Nordic enterprises, including those in Sweden, should intensify cooperation with China in "construction, use and management of venues and facilities".

China encourages cooperation in technology between small and medium-sized enterprises from the two sides, he said. Also, it wants them to set up platforms to increase business contacts and urges them to share distribution channels and develop products jointly.

He assured those present at the dinner that China is committed to sustainable development and protecting intellectual property rights, saying its strategy of opening up is based on mutual benefit.

"The message that I wish to send to you is that China is firmly committed to peaceful development. It focuses on development at home and tries to uphold world peace and common development," Hu said.

On China-Sweden ties, Hu said expanding business and trade ties are an important part of bilateral relations, which are "flourishing" now and "are as good as ever".

Sino-Swedish friendship goes back to the 18th century when the Swedish merchant ship Gotheborg served as a bridge between the two peoples. Swedish explorer Sven Hedin discovered the ancient city of Loulan, and Swedish archeologist Johan Gunnar Andersson unearthed the remains of Yangshao culture and Majiayao culture, writing important pages in China's history.

Last year, the Sino-Swedish trade volume reached $6.73 billion, almost double that of 2000. China has been Sweden's largest trading partner in Asia for four consecutive years.

By April this year, there were more than 840 Swedish investment projects in China with a total paid-up capital of $1.39 billion. Apart from this, China has signed 1,138 contracts worth $10.2 billion to import Swedish technologies and equipment.

Furthermore, Swedish enterprises such as Ericsson, Volvo, Tetra Pak, Electrolux and Ikea have been running successful projects in China. They have not only expanded their market share in the country and strengthened bilateral trade and business cooperation, but also brought a lot of benefits to both the peoples, Hu said.