Finland geared up to offer China winter sports culture know-how

Finland is ready to offer its expertise to China as Beijing looks to plant roots for a winter sports culture among its people in time for the 2022 Winter Olympics, a Finnish official said on Monday. 

Sampo Terho, minister for European Affairs, Culture and Sport of Finland, told a press briefing in Beijing that Finnish authorities have established a Winter Sports Cluster program to further develop potential business cooperation and platforms, and to provide comprehensive solutions for supporting the growth of a winter sports culture in China. 

The year 2019 is the China-Finland Year of Winter Sports, which was agreed by leaders of the two countries during President Xi Jinping's visit to Finland in 2017. 

"China has not been traditionally known as a strong winter sports nation. But the country's will to succeed, and to engage ordinary people in sport activities in general is significant," he said. 

He added that Finland has a lot to offer as China looks to plant roots for a real winter sports culture in China, in time for the 2022 Olympic Games, and beyond. 

"For China's goal to reach 300 million new winter sport enthusiasts and to build the infrastructure needed to support this, Finland has a lot to offer," he said. 

"Finland may not be a particularly large nation, but our expertise in winter sports covers a vast array of products and services," he said. 

"I am convinced that both China and Finland will greatly benefit from closer cooperation in this area, enhancing the social and economic development of our countries and further improving people-to-people dialogue," he said. 

Jusa Susia, the head of Region East Asia with Business Finland, a Finnish government agency, said Finland is committed to long-term cooperation with China in its aspirations to reach the top in winter sports, both in the success of its winter athletes and in building a strong winter sports culture in China. 

"China is Finland's most important trade partner in Asia and our fourth largest trade partner globally. In practice, China's importance to Finnish trade is even bigger, when the whole production and value chains are taken into consideration," he said.