China News Service, Yibin, Sichuan, November 8 (Cheng Zhao) The 2026 China-Nordic People-to-People Friendly Dialogue with the theme of "Building a Bridge of Mutual Trust and Opening up a New Situation for Cooperation" was held in Yibin, Sichuan on the 8th. About 100 people from relevant Chinese departments, local governments, and friendship organizations of Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Norway, and Iceland attended the meeting to explore ways to deepen people-to-people exchanges and practical cooperation.
This dialogue was hosted by the Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries and hosted by the Sichuan People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries and the Yibin Municipal People's Government.
Hao Zhongwei, secretary-general of the Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries, delivered a speech at the opening ceremony. He said that China and Nordic countries have a long history of friendly people-to-people exchanges. He hopes to use this dialogue as an opportunity to build a regular dialogue platform, enhance mutual trust, build consensus, and expand exchanges and cooperation in various fields.
He Yanzheng, deputy director of the Standing Committee of the Sichuan Provincial People's Congress, said that Sichuan attaches great importance to developing relations with Nordic countries, and the two sides have cooperated in areas such as green energy, new energy vehicles, technological innovation and cultural exchanges. At present, Sichuan has established 4 pairs of international sister cities and 7 pairs of friendly cooperative relations with Nordic countries. In 2025, Sichuan's total import and export volume to the five Nordic countries will reach 4.748 billion yuan (RMB, the same below), and in the first three quarters of 2026, it will reach 3.684 billion yuan.
"If you have a trustworthy friend, and you want to maintain this friendship, you must meet more often and exchange gifts." Talking about the importance of people-to-people exchanges between countries, Gísli Jökull Gíslason, chairman of the Icelandic Chinese Cultural Association, quoted an ancient Nordic poem at the dialogue meeting. He recalled that in 1952, the Icelandic delegation traveled to many places and took eight days to arrive in Beijing. Now that the two countries have opened direct flights, personnel exchanges have become more convenient. Mette Suzanne Husemoen, president of the Norway-China Friendship Association, recalled her first trip to China by train in 1988 and believed that face-to-face communication and personal experience would help enhance mutual understanding between people of different countries.
At the dialogue meeting, Chinese and foreign guests discussed topics such as education and youth exchanges, mutual learning among civilizations, and folk cultural exchanges. According to reports, the Nordic delegation also visited Yanqing, Beijing, Yibin, Sichuan and other places to inspect the ice and snow economy, green ecology, local culture and industrial innovation and development.
