China has expressed its readiness to expand cooperation with Iceland across several sectors, including bilateral trade, geothermal energy, environmental sustainability and Arctic affairs, as the two countries seek to strengthen their longstanding diplomatic relations.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi made the remarks on Thursday during discussions with Icelandic Foreign Minister Thorgerdur Katrin Gunnarsdottir in Beijing, according to a statement issued by China’s Foreign Ministry.
The meeting comes as both countries commemorate 55 years of diplomatic relations.
“China is willing to share development opportunities with Iceland, explore cooperation potential, strengthen cooperation in areas such as trade and economy, geothermal energy, green transformation, marine affairs, and the Arctic,” said Wang.
He also advocated expanding bilateral engagement through tourism, collaborative scientific research and human resource development, while encouraging greater interaction between citizens of both countries. Wang said stronger people-to-people relations would help broaden the scope of their partnership.
“Faced with the current turbulent international situation, both sides should strengthen cooperation, jointly uphold multilateralism, the rule of international law, and the core role of the United Nations in international affairs, promote the building of a more just and equitable global governance system, and make new contributions to maintaining world peace and stability,” he told Gunnarsdottir, who began her visit to China on Monday and is expected to depart on Saturday.
During her stay, the Icelandic foreign minister is also scheduled to travel to Qingdao in eastern China’s Shandong province, where she will head a delegation of Icelandic businesses participating in a seafood exhibition.
China and Iceland formally established diplomatic relations in 1971, with their economic partnership subsequently expanding over the decades. China has since emerged as Iceland’s biggest trading partner in Asia.
Their economic relationship received a further boost when both countries concluded a free trade agreement in April 2013. The deal, which became operational on July 1, 2014, marked the first such agreement between China, the world’s second-largest economy, and a European nation.
Trade between the two countries reached $443 million in 2024, according to figures provided by China’s Foreign Ministry, reflecting the continuing economic exchanges between the Asian and European partners.
