People's Republic of China–Finland relations

People's Republic of China–Finland relations
Finnish-Chinese relations
Map indicating locations of Finland and China

Finland

China

Finnish-Chinese relations are foreign relations between the Finland and People's Republic of China.

Contents

Trade

The two international trade organizations are the Finland-China Trade Association and the China Council for Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT).

One of the fastest growing areas of trade between the two countries is in environmental protection.[1] [2] and information technology.

Nokia is the largest Finnish investor in China.

Linux

Linux, the open source code first developed by Finnish software engineer Linus Torvalds, is playing a major role in the development of China’s IT sector – and in the country’s rapid industrial development as a whole. Researcher, investor and open source code promoter Mikko Puhakka believes that Linux has established a good foundation for Finnish-Chinese cooperation.

The roots of the Chinese open source code are in Finland. Professor Gong Min started using and developing Linux when he was doing his Ph.D research at the Helsinki University of Technology in the early 1990s. Returning to China in 1996, Professor Gong Min took Linux with him on 20 floppy disks. This is seen as the birth of Chinese open source code development and Professor Gong Min is now among the 20 most influential people in China.

The first Linux server was started in May 1997 in Changzhou. Its domain name was cLinux.ml.org. Today a local distribution of Linux, the Red Flag Linux, is a compulsory subject in 1,000 Chinese universities by 2008. The Chinese view open source code as a critical factor in the country’s development.

Embassies

Society