The Danish Prime Minis- ter， Mrs. Helle ThorningSchmidt， begun her visit to China on September 9. The first official visit since her became the Prime Minister last September marks the closer ties between Denmark and China.

Her trip followed an official visit to Denmark by China’s President Hu Jintao in June， the first ever such visit by a Chinese head of state to this Nordic nation.

The Prime Minister had a bilateral meeting with Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao. The purpose of the meeting was to strengthen the bilateral relations between Denmark and China. Thorning-Schmidt explained that she would like to have closer consultations and cooperation with China in all areas. She would also create better conditions for Chinese companies investing in Denmark.

Premier Wen welcomed Thorning-Schmidt to Tianjin. ThorningSchmidt emphasized the importance of the bilateral relationship between the two countries and was committed to developing the strategic partnership between Denmark and China. Wen noted that China wants to further promote the two countries’ cooperation in such areas as trade， agriculture， environmental protection， tourism， maritime issues and culture.

By the end of 2011， Danish investment projects in China totalled 718， the amount of which up to $2.16 billion. Meanwhile， Chinese investment to Denmark has also been increasing. By the end of 2011， Chinese investment in Denmark rose to $47.86 million. And President Hu’s visit to Denmark also resulted in the signing of 17 agreements， and deals worth around $3.4 billion.

The Prime Minister then spoke at several sessions at the World Economic Forum held in Tianjin during September 11-13. The first session she attended was the panel “European Crisis， Global Impact”， the purpose of which was to discuss what impact the European Crisis has on the global economy.

“Looking beyond Europe， it is clear that the sovereign debt crisis in Europe also affects the global economy. The EU is the largest trading entity in the world and the low growth in Europe has a direct bearing on the global economy. Europe has taken a number of decisions during the crisis， but clearly the crisis is not over and more work still needs to be done. A fundamental goal is to ensure that the social market economies of Europe can be sustained. I believe the European social model based on core values of solidarity， safety nets and equal opportunity is worth fighting for，” said Thorning-Schmidt in her speech.

Later， Thorning-Schmidt had a meeting with Party Secretary at CPC Tianjin Municipality Committee， Zhang Gaoli， where they discussed the economic activity in the Tianjin municipality of Danish companies. Now there are 52 Danish companies located in the Tianjin-area， which makes the municipality the most popular region in China in terms of investments from Denmark.

Denmark and China also enhance cooperation in education. The Sino-Danish Center (SDC) launched its first master programmes at UCAS in September. The master programs are the first of its kind with a mixture of Danish and Chinese students and focus on both Denmark and China in the program. The Danish Prime Minister attended the opening where she held a speech that underlined that the students have made a clever and forward-looking choice by studying at SDC.

During her visit， the Prime Minister held a speech at Carlsberg’s celebration of their 150 year anniversary in China. Carlsberg was one of the first international breweries to commence exporting beer to China and has established and retained production.

According to the Danish Trade Ministry， China now ranks amongst Denmark’s biggest markets outside the EU， and the share of Danish exports to China has increased 50 percent since 2008. And Danish exports to China amounted to 15.1 billion Danish kroner (around 2.7 billion dollars) in 2011， and climbed by 12 percent in the first six months of 2012 alone.

Official Chinese statistics showed that the volume of bilateral trade between China and Denmark increased 18.3 percent in 2011， as compared to the previous year， to reach $9.26 billion， Xinhua reported.