'No global problem can be resolved without China' - Norway's Deputy Foreign Minister - video Dailymotion

CGTN Europe

Norwegian Deputy Foreign Minister Andreas Motzfeldt spoke to CGTN’s Aljosa Milenkovic about the friendship between his country and China.  #china #norway

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00:00Deputy Foreign Minister of Norway, Andres Kovic, thank you very much for speaking to CGTN.

00:05Thank you very much for the opportunity.

00:06How much Norway actually contributed to increasing relations between China and Europe?

00:13Well, I think it's important for international stability that Europe and China has a robust and solid relationship.

00:20So we have tried to facilitate that.

00:22We have a similar relationship to China as that of the EU.

00:27Our relationship and our strategy towards China, again, is very similar to that of the EU.

00:34So we have decided that we want to collaborate with China on a whole host of issues.

00:39We don't think that any global problem can be resolved without the participation of China.

00:45And we have a very robust trading relationship with China.

00:50We see China as important, as I said, in order to sustain multilateralism, in order to reform the UN,

00:55in order to achieve all these important results, in order to ensure that we can have a global community

01:04based on prosperity and based on international law and the UN.

01:08And that requires us to collaborate very closely with China.

01:14But of course, Norway is one state amongst many states in Europe.

01:18So we will coordinate very closely with our European partners.

01:21In March this year, you visited China.

01:23You were in Beijing.

01:24You were in Hong Kong.

01:26And I will quote what you mentioned on the social media,

01:29that only a few countries are more relevant to visit in today's geopolitical situation, referring to China.

01:34So how do you perceive China's evolving role in international relations?

01:39Well, I think no matter how you describe it, China has a very important role to play at the world stage.

01:45It's the world's second largest economy.

01:48It is important, again, as I said, to sustain the UN, to sustain international stability.

01:54So I think visiting China is critically important for us.

01:57We've had the prime minister visiting.

01:58We've had the foreign minister visiting.

02:00Myself and other members of the cabinet have visited.

02:03And for us, it's clear that no problem, no challenge can be overcome without the participation of China.

02:11So we think it's critical that we maintain a very close relationship with China,

02:16that we understand the Chinese thinking around certain issues, be it the environmental crisis,

02:21be it other types of crises, also where we have different opinions.

02:25Having said that, we have a compartmentalized relationship to China.

02:29So we are capable of having issues of disagreement on the one hand,

02:34but also having very strong partnerships on the other hand.

02:38China is among top import partners for Norway.

02:42Other way around is not the case, because Norway's exports to China are not as huge.

02:48So how do you think that can change?

02:52How do you see the future of bilateral trade relations between the two countries?

02:57Well, I think that's one of the areas where we really want to see more activity.

03:00There is already significant activity, and things are moving, I think, in the right direction.

03:06When you look at the core industries in Norway that are relevant for China,

03:12we are making lots of progress, lots of Norwegian businesses are, in fact, exporting to China,

03:18and also importing from China.

03:20I think last year we had China being the most important,

03:25or the third most important market for our sea products,

03:28and that's important for us, as you know, we're a seafaring nation.

03:31I see that the popularity of Chinese EVs is huge here.

03:36I read somewhere that it is over 11% of the entire EV market here is taken by the Chinese EV companies.

03:43Why Chinese EVs are so popular here in Norway, unlike in some other European countries?

03:49Well, I think it's important to take a step back and just to appreciate that Norway has been very,

03:54has been leading when it comes to transforming our passenger cars,

03:59so that we now have a very close to 90% of all the cars sold in Norway at the current moment

04:05are, in fact, EV cars.

04:07And our ambition is that all cars sold at the end of the year will be EV cars.

04:13And again, we've achieved that by various means, incentivizing individuals

04:17so that they will get certain benefits if they buy electric cars as opposed to gas-driven cars.

04:23It's important for Chinese companies, for American companies, European companies,

04:29to be present in the Norwegian market and for Norwegian customers to have an opportunity

04:37to buy the cars that fit their priorities.

04:40And that's something that we have tried as government representatives to facilitate.

04:45Well, our partnership with China, as I said, is based on the fact that no problem,

04:50no global problem can be resolved without the participation of China.

04:53And I think one of those challenges that we have to overcome is the climate crisis.

04:58And we recognize that China plays a pivotal role in terms of overcoming that.

05:03China has set forth pretty ambitious climate targets for itself.

05:09Norway has also established very clear ambitions in terms of carbon neutrality by 2055,

05:18so that's something that we want to achieve.

05:19And I think in order for us to achieve that, we have to collaborate with all countries.

05:24I think it's important for all countries to find the right balance between regulation and innovation.

05:28For us, it's important that we adhere to international law,

05:32that we adhere to various branches of international law, not least trade law,

05:38but also other aspects of the international legal framework.

05:41And that's something that we take very seriously.

05:43Also here in Norway, we have domesticated various international legal principles

05:48to ensure that all our companies, all our academic institutions, our experts have, in fact,

05:55an obligation also by way of our domestic legislation to comport with our international legal obligations.

06:02And we're having very robust conversations, constructive conversations with China

06:07within the confinements of the UN, the World Trade Organization, where these things are being discussed.

06:13And I think for our two countries to be able to strengthen our partnership also in terms of innovation and new technology,

06:21it's important that both our countries and also Europe as such come together and coalesce around these norms.

06:28We have an obligation to try to understand each other's perspectives.

06:32So for us, it's been important to travel to China, to listen to the perspectives of China,

06:38to meet with our Chinese counterparts.

06:40And this is why we've had a number of visits now over the course of the last few months and years to China

06:46from Norwegian officials, again, in order to understand the Chinese perspective,

06:51but also to convey Norwegian priorities, Norwegian standpoints.

06:55When I traveled to China, that was one of my central takeaways,

07:00was that we were able to have constructive, frank, open discussions also on topics that can be difficult,

07:07the war in Ukraine being one of them.

07:10So for countries such as the European countries, Norway, of course, being one of those European countries,

07:18it's critical that we maintain a dialogue with China, that we collaborate with China where we can to our mutual benefit,

07:25Deputy Foreign Minister of Norway, Andres Kovic, thank you very much for speaking to CGTN.

07:29Thank you very much.

'No global problem can be resolved without China' - Norway's Deputy Foreign Minister

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