On September 10th, Mr. Jyrki Katainen, Prime Minister of the Republic of Finland paid a visit to Renmin University of China, and delivered a speech titled Outlook for Finland and EU. In his speech, Katainen gave an introduction to Finland’s general situation of nature, culture, politics and economics. He pointed out that Finland attaches great importance to the role of education in national development, so everyone should have access to education in order to stimulate creativity, so that people could have a better understanding of the changes in the world for a better future. He also emphasized the importance of maintaining Finns’ right of freedom, with equal access to social security and social welfare such as health care and education; and the effective operation of public economy serves as a strong support for this. Prime Minister Katainen expected that cooperation between Finland and China on clean technologies could be promoted against the salient problems of environment and resources the world economy is facing. He opined that in the post-crisis era, China’s cooperation with EU is much more important than usual. China is EU's third largest trading partner. There are many opportunities for potential cooperation in every field. At the same time, China's large-scale economy has great demand for sustainable economy and sustainable industries, especially in terms of water treatment, bio-fuel, energy saving, urban planning and other clean technologies. All these indicate tremendous opportunities for Finnish companies with clean technology solutions. Held in the lecture hall of Guoxue Guan (Building for School of Chinese Classics), the event was presided over by President Chen Yulu, Renmin University of China. Mr. Ville Niinistö, Finnish Minister of Enviroment gave a brief address titled Opportunities in Green and Inclusive Economy. Minister Niinistö pointed out in his address that clean technology is becoming a drive for global economic growth, and every government must take measures to explore new energy resources. China is now paying more attention to environmental protection. During the days he spent in China, he witnessed Chinese government's efforts to protect the environment. China and Finland need to strengthen their cooperation in clean technologies for both environmental protection and economic development. "What are the pros and cons of US-EU trade agreement? And what’s its impact on Finland’s development?" Prof. Wang Yiwei from School of International Studies proposed this question to Mr. Prime Minister. Subsequently, several students and faculty members from School of Law, School of Chinese Classics, School of International Studies, etc. also raised their questions: "How is Finland’s technological innovation related to its education system and policies?" "How to cultivate the innovation capability of university students?" "How did Finland overcome its own deficiency and stabilize its economy in European debt crisis?" "What’s Finland’s policy for traditional industries and what is the relation with free trade?" There were also questions about suggestions on China's economic development, Beautiful Beijing Project and so on. Before the lecture, RUC President Chen Yulu met with Prime Minister Katainen, and discussed ways to further advance the educational and cultural exchanges between the two countries. President Chen introduced that Renmin University of China is the first university founded in the New China, focusing on humanities, social sciences and management sciences. According to three discipline evaluations run by China Academic Degrees & Graduate Education Development Center of Ministry of Education, the total number of Renmin’s No. 1 first-tier disciplines all ranked the third place in the country; in the latest evaluation, nine first-tier disciplines of Renmin are ranked top. Playing a significant role in the nation’s economic, social and cultural development, RUC is intensifying its efforts in cultivating talents of global vision, sense of responsibility and the ability of cross-cultural communication. In recent years, RUC has been taking various measures to implement the internationalization strategy and promote international exchanges and cooperation, including the partnerships with Finnish counterparts. President Chen Yulu recalled his visit to Finland in 2006 and stressed the importance of cooperation between RUC and Finnish universities, as well as with other European universities. He pointed out that Prime Minister Katainen's speech will attract more RUC students to study in Finland and propel the bilateral cooperation into a new phase. Mr. Katainen expressed his appreciation to have the opportunity to visit Renmin University of China and interact with RUC faculty members and students. Finland has been dedicated to become more internationalized and innovative. Innovation comes from people's creativity; while creativity depends primarily on freedom. It is of great significance to promote Sino-Finnish bilateral exchanges and cooperation so as to accelerate the pace of future development. He hopes to see more RUC students in Finnish universities, and also the other way round, so as to promote bilateral cultural exchanges. Mr. Antti Vänskä, Special Adviser to the PM; Ms. Elina Kalkku, Director General, Department for the Americas and Asia, Ministry for Foreign Affairs; Ms Paula Parviainen, Deputy Head of the Embassy of Finland in China; Mr. Mika Tirronen, Counsellor of Education and Science, the Embassy of Finland in China, among others, also accompanied the visit to RUC. Prof. Yang Huilin, Vice-President of Renmin attended the meeting. Mrs. Ji Hongbo, Director, President’s Office; Prof. Tang Zhong, Director of International Office and Dean, School of Agriculture and Rural Development; Prof. Ma Zhong, Dean,  School of Environment and Natural Resources; Prof. Chen Yue, Executive Dean, School of International Studies were also in attendance. Renmin University of China and the Finnish universities have maintained long-term friendly cooperation. Since the 1990s, RUC has established partnership and carried out student exchange programs with the University of Turku, University of Helsinki and University of Lapland. In recent years, both sides have made frequent exchange of visits and cooperated in fields like law, business, art, international relations and so on.  Since 1987, a total of 92 Finnish students graduated from Renmin University of China. In 2006, a Confucius Institute was founded in University of Helsinki, with Renmin University of China as its partner. Currently, there are Finnish students studying at Renmin University of China, or attending the International Summer School every year.