On the morning of February 22, 2005, Vice Foreign Minister Zhang Yesui held consultations with visiting Finnish Foreign Ministry State Secretary Arto Mansala. Zhang made positive remarks over bilateral friendly relations since the establishment of diplomatic ties between China and Finland 55 years ago. He expressed appreciations to the Finnish side for upholding the one China policy over the years. Mansala indicated that recent years have witnessed frequent top-level exchanges and closer cooperation in politics, economy, trade, culture, science and technology between the two countries. The Finnish side was satisfied with the development of China-Finland relations. The two sides also exchanged views on important current international and regional issues.

State Secretary Mansala and his delegation arrived in Beijing on February 20 for a 4-day visit at the invitation of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.