Finnish ambassador to China Leena-Kaisa Mikkola is leading a delegation on a visit through East China's Shandong province from May 8 to 11.

On the afternoon of May 8, Lin Wu, Party secretary of Shandong, welcomed the delegation in Jinan, capital of Shandong.

In recent years, Shandong has been ramping up efforts to comprehensively promote green, low-carbon, and high-quality development, accelerate the development of a strong modern socialist province in the new era, and make new progress in economic and social development, said Lin.

Lin noted that Shandong attaches great importance to friendly exchanges and mutually beneficial cooperation with Finnish localities, adding that the two sides have achieved fruitful results in cultural exchanges, economic and trade cooperation, as well as sister city exchanges.

"We are ready to join hands with Your Excellency, Ambassador, to strengthen exchanges and cooperation in such areas as economy, trade and investment, energy transformation, maritime and shipping, digitalization and high-end equipment manufacturing, and to write a new chapter of mutual benefits and win-win progress," said Lin.

"We attach great importance to our cooperation with Shandong. Many Finnish companies have invested and started business here. The two sides enjoy a good foundation for cooperation and prospects for development," said Mikkola.

The Finnish delegation includes more than 70 business representatives from more than 40 companies, covering a wide range of industries including digitalization, manufacturing, maritime and ports, energy, bio-economy, consumer goods, tourism, and food.

"We look forward to deepening practical cooperation with Shandong in the fields of energy, intelligent manufacturing, marine economy, education, culture and tourism, and especially sustainable development, so as to contribute to the green, low-carbon, and high-quality development of Shandong," added Mikkola.

The Finnish delegation will visit key enterprises and host business meetings in Jinan, Qingdao, and Yantai.