The Green Sustainable Development Conference was held in Beijing 17-18 January 2019 as a step to implement the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and put sustainability on the agenda in China. The conference was co-hosted by Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries (CPAFFC) and China Urban-townization Promotion Council (CUPC), with the Nordic Council of Ministers as partner.
Mr. Svein Berg, Managing Director of Nordic Innovation, delivered a keynote speech on behalf of Mr. Dagfinn Høybråten, Secretary General of the Nordic Council of Ministers. Berg’s speech addressed the topics on the current cooperation between China and Nordic countries, the Nordic prime ministers’ initiative Nordic Solutions to Global Challenges and the potential for future cooperation between China and the Nordic countries.
“The Nordic countries are as small open economies, dependent on trade to maintain prosperity and economic growth for current and future generations. In a short time, the relationship with China has changed profoundly. We now have much more cooperation with China, not only when it comes to investment, business and trade but also when it comes to tourism and education exchange and people to people contacts”, said Mr. Berg.
He also pointed out that technology, innovation and trade are important driving forces behind the rapid growth of the economy and cultivating many world-class Nordic enterprises in various fields and that Nordic experiences in dealing with global challenges can facilitate further and deeper cooperation with China in the future.
The theme of the conference was "Sustainable Development and Global Cooperation on Green Urbanization" and included organisations and enterprises in relevant fields from United Nations, the Nordic Council of Ministers, China and Sweden, Denmark, Finland and Iceland. All participants agreed that the Nordic countries have successfully achieved coordinated developments, both economic, environmental and social – and that China needs to draw on the successful experiences of the Nordic countries, strengthen international coordination and cooperation, and establish partnership on green sustainable development.