时间：2022-07-19 03:15:09
Economic exchanges between China and Sweden go back hundreds of years. In the late Qing dynasty， a Chinese student who visited Sweden along with diplomats was impressed with the Swedes as a people， saying that the men were muscular and the ladies were beautiful.
There are even more reasons to admire Sweden today. Sweden has long been on the list of the world’s wealthiest countries. “The Nordic Model，”especially its well-established welfare system， was given the thumbs-up by many Chinese people after mainland China started opening up. However， the system has been through a difficult period with the Swedish economy hard hit by the global financial crisis.The Eurozone debt crisis exacerbated the downward trend， makingthe Nordic country’s GDP fall last year. Despite this， there are strong indications of economic recovery.
Sweden was the first western country to have established diplomatic relations with the People’s Republic of China， and the two nations’ economic dialogue has always been positive. China is Sweden’s largest market in Asia， while Sweden is China’s largest Nordic trade partner.
Ericsson， Volvo， Saab， ABB， Electrolux， IKEA， TetraPak， H&M – all these big brands come from Sweden and are looking to expand their footprint in the Chinese market.
On the flip side， China has made smaller investments in Sweden. As China’s largest telecom equipment maker， Huawei Technologies set up its R&D center in Sweden with its rival ZTE Corporation following suit. Just a few years ago， Huawei outmuscled its local rival Ericsson and won a Swedish 4G network deal.
The highest-profile transaction between the two countries in recent years was the acquisition of Volvo Cars by China’s Geely Group. Although the vehicle brand was sold to Ford Motor Company in 1999， Volvo Cars has its root in Sweden and used to be a subsidiary of Volvo Group.
Regardless， the announced deal stirred complaints among some Chinese Volvo car owners， who felt uncomfortable that a high end European auto brand like Volvo could become the property of a Chinese company.
Volvo established its China base in Shanghai and started production in Chengdu in September. The latest data shows Volvo reporting a loss of US$87 million in the first half of the year with its Chinese market sales surging by two thirds. This suggests that the acquisition has had a positive impact on Volvo’s expansion in China with consumer demands still strong.
Chinese firms need to learn how to innovate and build brands from their Sweden peers through various methods， including M&A， instead of simply focusing on the immediate market.
Sweden is the birthplace of the great inventor Alfred Nobel who boasted 355 patents during his lifetime， with the Nobel Prize giving him continued prominence. Safety matches， monkey wrenches， beverage boxes， heart pacemakers， explosives， Bluetooth….are all inventions from Sweden. While it is the largest country of North Europe， Sweden has roughly the same land area as China’s Heilongjiang province or Gansu； its population is as small as that of a second-tier China citylike Wenzhou. So what is the secret to the innovative capability of this small country？ The answer lies in the commitment to research and education based on commercial feasibility.
For many years， Sweden has been a leader in the global markets in such areas as IT， mobile telecommunications， biological technology， automobile research， timber manufacturing and military technology. As a result， the two countries complement each other in many economic areas and trade， and have ample room for seeking further cooperation. But the most attractive aspect from the perspective of Chinese enterprises is what can be learned from Swedish firms in terms of their spirit of innovation and the capability to build a big brand.
China’s silks， teas and porcelainwere sought-after products among Swedish consumers hundreds of years ago， but in many ways the roles today have been reversed. Is it possible for made-in-China products to be returned to the wish-lists of Swedish shoppers amid China’s untiring study and research？ We’ll see.