Premier Li Keqiang meets with Finnish President Sauli Niinisto at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Jan 15. [Photo/Xinhua]

China would like to work closer with Finland in trade, services, technological exchanges, climate change, green development and clean energy, Premier Li Keqiang told visiting Finnish President Sauli Niinisto on Tuesday.

Li said there is great potential for both countries to cooperate in economic and technological scenarios. China, with a huge market, can provide opportunities for Finland's technological innovation and will better protect intellectual property rights, which is in line with China's own transformation of its development model and also beneficial to learning advanced technologies and concepts, he said.

Premier Li said China firmly supports European integration and considers the EU a vital contributor to world stability and free trade. He said he is looking forward to the new round of China-EU leaders' meeting.

Finland is to chair the European Union in the second half of this year and is expected to contribute to closer China-EU relations and the solidarity and prosperity of the regional bloc.

Niinisto, who is on a state visit to Beijing, said he is glad to see the new achievements China has made during every one of his visits to the Asian country. China is becoming a stabilizer for the world and Finland attaches great importance to bilateral relations, he said.

The Northern European country is willing to strengthen exchanges among enterprises from both countries, especially small and medium-sized ones, technological innovation, and clean energy while safeguarding the multilateral trading system, he added.