Nearly 70 Finland and Nantong-based companies, including Wartsila, MacGregor, Konecranes, Nantong COSCO KHI Ship Engineering Co, COSCO (Nantong) Shipyard Co, and China Merchants Heavy Industry (Jiangsu) Co, held a discussion in the coastal city in East China's Jiangsu province on April 8 to seek cooperation opportunities in the shipbuilding and marine engineering sectors.

Nantong has been one of Finland's key partners in Jiangsu, with imports and exports between the two valued at 710 million yuan ($108.38 million) in 2020, up 10.2 percent year-on-year.

"Nantong is the second largest shipbuilding and marine engineering base in China and a very important market for Finland," said Pasi Hellman, consul general of Finland in Shanghai.

Hellman said that there is ample room for cooperation between Nantong and Finland, and that the consulate general in Shanghai will work to strengthen the partnership between Finnish and Nantong companies.

Cao Haifeng, director of the Nantong bureau of industry and information technology, agreed with Hellman, stating that the city is working to upgrade its shipbuilding and marine engineering industries with luxury cruise ships and high-end equipment at its core, which requires many advanced products from Finland.

A representative of Norsepower, a Finnish cleantech company, said the company has maintained a long-term partnership with Nantong-based Sino Viking and that he was visiting Nantong to help train engineers in independent assembly, adjustment, and maintenance skills. He said the company is also seeking system manufacturers in Nantong.