Nordic nations show EU there is alternative path

When some in Europe talk about China these days, the conversation often oscillates between "anxiety" and "arithmetic". The "anxiety" is geopolitical; the "arithmetic" concerns "trade imbalances". Yet the more interesting story may lie in one part of Europe that has historically displayed pragmatism over panic: the Nordic region.

Foreign Minister Wang Yi's weeklong visit to Denmark, Sweden, Finland and Norway starting on Thursday is a reminder that some of Europe's earliest diplomatic ties with the People's Republic of China were built less on ideology than on realism and a shared belief that different countries benefit from an open international order.

In recent years, China has deepened cooperation with the Nordic countries in technology, trade, investment, the green transition and people-to-people exchanges, and both sides have repeatedly found common ground on multilateralism, free trade and climate governance.

Wang's trip comes after the inaugural meeting of the China-European Union trade and investment consultation mechanism. It is important for Beijing to engage those European voices that still believe trade disputes should be managed through negotiation rather than through an escalating cycle of restrictions.

China is Denmark's largest trading partner in Asia and its second-largest overseas investor. The bilateral trade in goods reached $18 billion in 2025. Denmark exports pharmaceuticals, agricultural products, precision instruments and energy equipment; China exports machinery, textiles and consumer goods. Around 500 Danish companies — from shipping and pharmaceuticals to wind power and biotechnology — operate in China.

China is Sweden's largest trading partner in Asia, while Sweden is China's largest trading partner in the Nordic region. Bilateral trade reached $19.37 billion in 2025. Swedish companies in China span telecommunications, home appliances, pharmaceuticals and retail. Chinese investment in Sweden has also become substantial.

Finland's partnership with China has increasingly focused on future-oriented cooperation. Trade remains broadly balanced, with China importing significant volumes of Finnish goods and technology while exporting consumer and industrial products. More importantly, the relationship has been reinforced by logistics connectivity, including multiple China-Europe freight rail links connecting Chinese cities with Helsinki and beyond.

China is Norway's largest trading partner in Asia, and the bilateral goods trade exceeded $11.4 billion in 2025. The two countries have developed long-standing cooperation on environmental governance, culminating in a joint statement on establishing a green transition dialogue during the Norwegian prime minister's 2024 visit to China. Few areas are more strategically important for Europe than the race to decarbonize industry, shipping and energy systems.

A fashionable narrative in Brussels is that the EU's economic relationship with China is defined primarily by "trade imbalances". The Nordic data, however, suggest a more nuanced picture: trade that is relatively balanced, investment that flows both ways and cooperation that generates mutual gains.

The deeper question is whether the EU wants to reduce risk or reduce opportunity. China's 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-30) prioritizes advanced manufacturing, green technologies, digital infrastructure and domestic consumption. For European companies with competitive strengths in pharmaceuticals, clean energy, industrial equipment, logistics and high-end services, this represents what some economies have come to recognize as the advent of "China Opportunity 2.0".

To reject that opportunity wholesale would be an odd form of economic self-denial for a continent struggling with slow growth, aging populations and competitiveness concerns.

None of this means the EU should ignore differences with China. The Nordic countries have various disagreements with Beijing, but they did not become a veto on cooperation. Mature diplomacy consists precisely in expanding areas of common interest while managing areas of disagreement.

That may be the real significance of Wang's Nordic itinerary. The numbers from Copenhagen, Stockholm, Helsinki and Oslo suggest that engagement with Beijing has produced something more complicated than dependence: it has produced mutually beneficial engagement. And in a fragmenting world, that remains an asset worth preserving.