Finnish PM arrives in Beijing for 4-day visit to China

Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo arrived in Beijing on Sunday to pay an official visit to China from Jan. 25 to 28, at the invitation of Chinese Premier Li Qiang.

During the visit, Chinese President Xi Jinping will meet with the Finnish prime minister, while Chinese Premier Li and Chairman of China's National People's Congress Standing Committee Zhao Leji will hold talks and meet with Orpo, respectively, to conduct in-depth exchange of views on bilateral relations and issues of common concern.

Finland was among the first Western countries to recognize and establish diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China, and was the first European country to sign an inter-governmental trade agreement with China. Under the strategic guidance of the two heads of state in recent years, the future-oriented new-type cooperative partnership between the two countries has been deepened, and cooperation in various fields has been steadily advanced.

In 2025, bilateral trade between China and Finland exceeded 8 billion U.S. dollars in value, while mutual investment stock surpassed 23 billion U.S. dollars, reflecting sustained enthusiasm of enterprises from both sides for strengthening mutually beneficial cooperation.

During Orpo's visit, China's Ministry of Commerce will sign a memorandum of understanding with the Finnish side on strengthening the work of the China-Finland Committee for Innovative Business Cooperation, and enterprises from both sides will sign a number of business cooperation agreements, said a spokesperson for the ministry.

Orpo will be accompanied by executives from more than 20 Finnish companies spanning machinery, forestry, innovation, clean energy, food and other key sectors, according to the spokesperson.

China attaches great importance to the development of China-Finland relations, and stands ready to work with Finland to maintain close high-level exchanges, consolidate political mutual trust, strengthen economic and trade cooperation, promote people-to-people and cultural exchanges, foster mutual understanding and collaboration in multilateral affairs, and jointly elevate bilateral relations to a new height, said a spokesperson for China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Finnish PM arrives in Beijing for 4-day visit to China

Russia said on Saturday that it carried out a large-scale strike against Ukraine early Saturday morning and controlled another settlement in the Kharkov Region over the past day, while Ukraine said it repelled Russian attacks in multiple directions.

Russian long-range precision missiles and attack drones hit a Ukrainian plant manufacturing drones and energy facilities servicing Ukraine's military-industrial complex during the past 24 hours, and Russia's operational-tactical aircraft, missile troops and artillery units struck 157 targets, including long-range drone storage sites and operator training facilities, as well as temporary deployment points of Ukrainian armed forces and foreign mercenaries, the Russian Defense Ministry said. It added that air defense systems shot down 137 fixed-wing drones.

Russian forces controlled the town of Staritsa in Kharkov Region over the past day, the ministry said.

The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on Saturday reported 136 combat engagements on the frontline, where Ukrainian troops repelled Russian offensives in multiple directions.

The Ukrainian Air Force said that Russian forces implemented a large-scale air strike against Ukraine from Friday evening to early Saturday morning.

Kiev Mayor Vitali Klitschko said that the large-scale strike caused damage to critical infrastructures in the city.

Russia carries out large-scale strike, Ukraine repels attacks in multiple directions