Speakers from Nordic, Baltic countries to visit China

BEIJING, Jan. 5 (Xinhua) -- At the invitation of Chinese top legislator Zhang Dejiang, various speakers from Nordic and Baltic countries will visit China from Jan. 7 to 13, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson said Friday.

Zhang, chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, will hold talks with the delegates, including the speakers of Finland, Norway, Iceland, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, as well as the deputy speaker of Sweden, according to spokesperson Geng Shuang.

"Nordic and Baltic countries, with an established mechanism of joint visits to other countries, showed their willingness to visit China," Geng said.

It is the first time for the speakers from Nordic and Baltic countries to jointly visit China, Geng said, expressing his hope that the visit would deepen relations between China and these countries, and exchanges between their legislative bodies, thus to promote China-Europe ties.

"China attaches great importance to the ties with Nordic and Baltic countries," Geng said, noting that China is willing to make joint efforts with them to promote bilateral ties, regional cooperation and China-Europe relations. Enditem