The Sweden Pavilion at the Shanghai Expo celebrated 60 years of Sino-Sweden diplomatic relations with Swedish folk music and dance Sunday.

This is an important year in Sino-Swedish relations. "On May 9, 1950, Sweden became the first western country to establish diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China," said Bengt Johansson, Sweden's Consul-General in Shanghai.

Six decades later, the two countries' relationship has matured, and economic and trade cooperation has grown remarkably, said Johansson.

"I feel happy about the development of our relationship and the steady expansion of our relations into new areas. China is our biggest export market outside Europe and cooperation in areas such as education and research is growing every day," he said.

A number of events are planned for the 60th anniversary celebrations. In June, an exhibition of terra cotta warriors will be held at the Museum for Far Eastern Antiquities in Stockholm.

"There are thousands of Chinese students studying in Sweden and thousands of Swedish students studying in China. This is very important to us. I think they will be the bridge of the future development," Johansson said.

"Tomorrow Sweden and China will be 60 plus. Let me sum it up in these words: We treasure all the good memories from the past. We enjoy every minute of the present. We know we can do much more in the future."

(Xinhua News Agency May 11, 2010)