Mr Bodewor
visuus · Dec.
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Co
A S Collins Esq
.WED
FCO
〆
раскора
BRITISH EMBASSY
STOCKHOLM
24 November 1983
we
623
Dear Allan
VISIT OF THE SWEDISH FOREIGN MINISTER TO CHINA
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63
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1. Mr Bodström paid an official visit to the People's Republic of China from 14-21 November at the invitation of the Chinese Foreign Minister, Wu Xueqian. The visit was a return match for the visit which the Chinese Foreign Minister paid to Sweden in 1980. The Political Counsellors from the Greek and French Embassies called on the desk officer for China in the MFA, Dag Klackenberg, on 23 November for a run-down on the visit and later, acting in Political Co-operation, briefed their EC colleagues on the conversation.
2. Klackenberg reported that in addition to the talks with Wu Xueqian, Mr Bodström had had a talk with the Chinese Prime Minister, Zhao Ziyang and with the Minister for Foreign Trade Chen Mu Hua. With the exception perhaps of Bodström's remarks to the Chinese on the recent cases of executions in China which apparently the Chinese listened to in an unruffled manner and politely reminded Bodström that it really was none of his business
all
the talks went well from the Swedish point of view. There are no bilateral problems between Sweden and China but Bodström did raise a few (unspecified) human rights cases in which the Swedes have an interest.
3. Sweden's main objective for the visit was to intensify economic and commercial relations between the two countries. At present, the balance of trade is heavily in China's favour, but to put this into perspective it must be remembered that trade in both directions is only of the order of Sweden's bilateral trade with Iceland (with a population of some 850,000). There is only one Swedish manufacturer with a subsidiary in China, the chemical firm of Astra situated at Wuxi in Southern China. Klackenberg said that the Chinese were now showing a greater interest in such firms as Volvo and ASEA and in importing Swedish technology gen- erally. The main Chinese objective seems to have been their desire to put across the point that they very much wanted to strengthen and develope bilateral relations with the countries of Western Europe in order to balance their relations with the United States and Japan. Although China did not consider that Sweden was politically an important country, the Chinese made it clear that they would like to include it in a major tour of Western Europe which the Chinese Prime Minister wished to make in 1984.
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