Senior Chinese Communist Party (CPC) official Wei Jianxing, Speaker of the Finnish Parliament Riita Uosukainen, several Finnish cabinet ministers and other ranking Finnish officials Wednesday evening attended a reception marking the 50th anniversary of Sino-Finnish diplomatic relations.

In his toast at the reception hosted by Chinese Ambassador to Finland Lu Xinhua, Wei, who is a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, praised the Finnish government's political farsightedness and courage in establishing diplomatic relations with New China 50 years ago.

Despite changes in the world, with joint efforts from the two countries' leaders and people, China-Finland relations have all along developed smoothly, with cooperation in various fields continuing to expand, he said.

In recent years, Wei said, the leaders of the two countries have been in close contact with political consultation going further in depth and bilateral relations have maintained a momentum for development.

He said the all-round development of relations of cooperation is in the fundamental interests of the two peoples and China is ready to work with Finland for the further development of bilateral relations in the new century.

Finnish Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja said at the reception the two countries' relations have witnessed great development over the past 50 years.

He said that on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of Finland-China diplomatic ties, Finland is being represented by two cabinet ministers in the commemorations of this anniversary in China, while he has the pleasure to welcome Wei here.

Diplomatic links and high-level exchanges have also been augmented by great growth in trade and increases in academic and cultural exchanges, he said.

Looking to the future, he said, this intensive web of exchanges is to become even more comprehensive, and the people of the two nations will have even more to gain from the two countries' relations, he said.

Attending the reception were about 300 people, including members of a CPC delegation headed by Wei, staff members of the Chinese embassy here and representatives of various circles of Finland.

(People’s Daily 10/26/2000)