Mr. Paavo Lipponen, Speaker of the Parliament of Finland, visited Tsinghua and delivered a speech in the Reporting Hall of School of Public Policy and Management on November 30. Tsinghua Vice President Xie Weihe met and had a friendly talk with Mr. Lipponen.

Prof. Xie welcomed Mr. Lipponen to Tsinghua University. He said that Tsinghua University has launched various collaboration with universities and corporations in Finland since the 20th century and he hoped that the cooperation could be strengthened.

Mr. Lipponen said he was quite happy to see the cooperation constructed between Tsinghua and the universities and agencies in Finland. “The development of Finland needs research and exploitation. The universities in Finland shoulder this responsibility and are doing a good job around the world,” said Mr. Lipponen. He emphasized the importance of the open of the universities, “Information should be fully exchanged between universities, which was also embodied in the exchange of China and Finland . We are learning from each other,” said the Speaker.

Mr. Jiang Yunbao, Vice Chairman of Sino-Finland friendship group of the National People's Congress, P.R.C., Mr. Zhang Zhijian, ambassador of China to Finland , and Cai Linxiang from Standing Committee of the National People's Congress attended the talks.

After the talk, Mr. Lipponen delivered a speech entitled “Model and Features of the Development of Finland.” He introduced geography, population, history and present development of Finland and answered questions from the seated students.

Born in 1941, Mr. Lipponen was Prime Minister of Finland from 1995 to 2003 and was elected Speaker of the Parliament in 2003.

Reported by Li Han