(Yicai Global) Nov. 11 -- Eight Norwegian companies took part in the just-ended China International Import Expo. These firms mainly ply agriculture, consumer products, medical equipment and medicine and healthcare businesses. Renowned as the cradle of winter sports, Norway has now turned its gaze to seek business opportunities at the 2022 Olympic Winter Games in Beijing.

The country intends to exploit the Winter Olympics as a springboard for its sports goods to break into the Chinese market, Kjell Arne Nielsen, special adviser and technology and commercial adviser for Innovation Norway China in Shanghai, told Yicai Global.

Norwegian companies expanded their exhibition area and product categories at this year’s CIIE compared with previous fairs. China is the Nordic nation’s top market for seafood. Some Chinese partners are poised to act as agents for several Norwegian companies at the same time, Nielsen said, and the categories of the nation’s products displayed at the CIIE this year are also more diverse, in his view.

"The economic and trade development is gravely affected by the epidemic while protectionism is on the rise,” Lucie Katrine Sunde-Eidem, state secretary of Norway’s Ministry of Trade, Industry and Fisheries, told Yicai Global in a video interview, adding, “Therefore, the promotion of trade and cooperation measures is of great significance.”

China is Norway’s most important trading partner in Asia. The two sides have great potential to forge tighter economic and trade bonds and realize their common interests, Sunde-Eidem said, and the CIIE is a key event for the Norwegian business community, and China’s ability to stage the expo as scheduled this year is a positive sign.

China became the fastest-growing market for Norwegian seafood last year and, though this year’s trade has been affected by special circumstances, the latest data confirms the sound basis for cooperation and promising future of the commerce in seafood between China and Norway, Victoria Braathen, China director of the Norwegian Seafood Council told Yicai Global.

The Scandinavian country’s seafood sector has taken special measures to ensure the safety of staffers as well as food. The pandemic has not dented the industry's confidence in the Chinese market, and Norway is currently bringing shellfish into it, she stated.

Editor: Ben Armour, Xiao Yi