Growing demand fuels Finland’s interest in Chinese: Ambassador

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Growing demand fuels Finland’s interest in Chinese: Ambassador

By Gao Yinan (People's Daily Online) 08:27, November 21, 2013

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Beijing, Nov.21 (People's Daily Online) -- As a wave of Chinese fever continues to spread around the globe, there has been no sign of any drop in Finland’s passion for Chinese language and culture.

Jari Gustafson, Finnish ambassador to China, gives a video interview at People's Daily Online headquarters in Beijing on Nov 8, 2013. (People's Daily Online/Chen Jianjun)

"The more Chinese who come to work and study in Finland, the better the story goes."

According to the data provided by the Finnish embassy on its website, the number of Chinese people living in Finland now exceeds 7,000, of whom 2,000 are students. "They are doing their best to tell the story of China to the people of Finland," said Ambassador Gustafson.

The numbers of Finnish people studying Chinese provide clear evidence of the increasing demand. According to the Ambassador, growing interest in the Chinese language and culture is particularly strong among young Finns who want to know more about China.

Approximately 70,000 Finnish tourists and business people visit China annually. The number of Finnish people living in China has also grown year by year; there are now about 2,000 Finns in China.

Ida Heimonen, a student of Confucius Institute at the University of Helsinki in Finland performs Peking Opera during spoken Chinese class. (File Photo/ Zhao Changchun)

Students practise speaking Chinese with their teacher at the University of Helsinki in Finland. (File Photo/ Zhao Changchun)

The Confucius Institute at the University of Helsinki was established in 2007 following the official visit of Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao in September 2006, in connection with the Helsinki ASEM Summit.

The Confucius Institute at the University of Helsinki is one of 435 Confucius Institutes in 117 countries and regions worldwide. It has become a platform for cultural exchanges between China and Finland as well as a bridge reinforcing friendship and cooperation between the two sides and two peoples.

In his interview with People’s Daily Online, the Ambassador expressed his own interest in visiting more cities and places in China during his tenure: "Everything in China is so big, so dynamic, so hectic."

（Editor：GaoYinan、Chen Lidan）