Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi met with Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson on Saturday (July 4) in Stockholm. Wang Yi said that China-Sweden relations have encountered some difficulties in recent years, and emphasized that rebuilding mutual trust is particularly important for both sides.
According to the website of China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Kristersson met with Wang Yi in Stockholm on Saturday local time. Wang Yi said that the history of exchanges between China and Sweden can be traced back to the ancient Silk Road. Sweden was the first Western country to establish diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China, demonstrating Sweden’s independence and strategic foresight, and also playing a model role in the world.
Wang Yi further said that China-Sweden relations have encountered some difficulties in recent years. Strengthening dialogue, enhancing understanding, and rebuilding mutual trust are particularly important for both sides, and holding a correct mutual perception is the key. He did not specify what these difficulties were.
Wang Yi stated that China firmly upholds multilateralism and free trade, supports all countries in choosing development paths suited to their own national conditions, and described that ‘a better China means a better world’, which will also bring new opportunities to countries including Sweden. China is willing to strengthen exchanges at all levels with Sweden, leverage complementary advantages, promote mutually beneficial cooperation, and push China-Sweden relations onto a path of healthy, stable, and sustainable development. He hopes Sweden can also play a constructive role in promoting China-Europe relations.
During his visit, Wang Yi also held talks with Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billström. Wang Yi said that China and Sweden have a long history of exchanges. For a long period, the two countries have been each other's largest trading partners in Asia and the Nordic region. The valuable experience from years of bilateral exchanges is to uphold objective and rational perceptions, attitudes of mutual respect, a spirit of seeking common ground while reserving differences, and persist in the goal of win-win cooperation.
Wang Yi also said that China-Sweden relations have suffered setbacks in recent years, but with joint efforts, differences should be put in their proper place, bilateral mutual trust should be improved, positive agendas should be focused on, and practical cooperation should be expanded.
Wang Yi mentioned that since Billström visited China last year, China-Sweden relations have continued to warm and improve, and this positive trend should be cherished. China is willing to work with Sweden to jointly promote the healthy and stable development of bilateral relations. He hopes Sweden will continue to adhere to the one-China principle and consolidate the political foundation of bilateral relations.
Wang Yi said that the current international situation is witnessing complex and profound changes, multilateral mechanisms such as the United Nations are under severe impact, and the world faces the risk of returning to the law of the jungle. Both China and Sweden are supporters of multilateralism and beneficiaries of free trade. China is willing to strengthen cooperation with Sweden, jointly safeguard the international system with the United Nations at its core, maintain an international order based on international law, and work together to address global challenges such as climate change.
On October 7 last year, Billström posted on Platform X saying that it was the 10th anniversary of Gui Minhai being deprived of his freedom, and that this case is an issue of great concern to the Swedish government. She mentioned that during her visit to Beijing, she raised Gui Minhai’s case with Wang Yi.
Billström said: "Our position is unwavering: Gui Minhai must be released to be reunited with his family."
Gui Minhai is a shareholder of Hong Kong's Causeway Bay Books, which is known for selling politically banned books. In 2015, Gui Minhai disappeared in Pattaya, Thailand, and later appeared in a detention center in China. He was briefly released in 2017, but was re-arrested by Chinese police in 2018. At the time of his arrest, he was traveling towards Beijing with Swedish diplomats on a high-speed train.
In 2020, Gui Minhai was sentenced to 10 years in prison on charges of illegally providing intelligence to foreign parties; China also stated that Gui Minhai applied to reinstate his Chinese citizenship in 2018. Sweden at the time stated that Gui Minhai had not requested to renounce his Swedish citizenship and demanded his release. This case caused tensions in China-Sweden relations.