On May 22, Finnish President Alexander Stubb met in Helsinki with Shi Taifeng, a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and vice-chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference. 

Noting that China and Finland enjoy a deep traditional friendship, Shi said that despite the distance, the two countries have maintained positive development momentum in bilateral relations. At present, China is in full stride in the building of a strong country and the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation on all fronts through a Chinese path to modernization, according to Shi. China is ready to work with Finland to implement the key consensus reached between the two heads of state and the outcomes of the Chinese president’s recent visit to Europe, extend mutual friendliness, expand exchanges at all levels, strengthen pragmatic cooperation in such areas as scientific innovation, information communication, energy saving and environmental protection, and winter sports, in a bid to share development opportunities, promote the steady and sustainable development of China-Finland and China-Europe relations, and jointly safeguard the peace and stability of the world, he said.

Stubb said that Finland firmly adheres to the one-China policy. He congratulated China on its remarkable development achievements, and spoke highly of the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative and the three global initiatives (the Global Development Initiative, the Global Security Initiative and the Global Civilization Initiative), as well as China's contributions to promoting global peace, stability and prosperity. He said that Finland regards China as a land of development opportunity and opposes economic decoupling and the disruption of industrial and supply chains to China. He also expressed willingness to deepen exchanges with China at all levels and mutually-beneficial cooperation, strengthen communication and dialogue on international and regional issues, and push for the continuous development of the Finland-China and Europe-China relations.

At the invitation of the Finnish parliament, Shi led a CPC delegation to Finland from May 21 to 23. During the visit, Shi also met and exchanged views with Deputy Speaker of the Finnish Parliament Tarja Filatov and former prime minister of Finland Esko Aho, who is also chairman of the Board at China Office of Finnish Industries.