Finland, China sign high-tech deals

There’s no better way to close out the week than to ink a few deals. And Beijing closed – or is near to closing – a couple of very important ones. Number one on the list is US$1 billion in wireless technology contracts between Beijing and Helsinki. Vice Premier Li Keqiang and Finnish Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen pledged cooperation that could lead to a further US$2 billion in deals – pretty significant when the total trade between the two countries was US$10 billion last year. After spending quality time with Prime Minister Vanhanen, Vice Premier Li kept on signing deals, this time with Turkmenistan. The two sides have agreed to a 30-year deal which would increase China’s purchases of Turkmenistan natural gas by 30% or about 40 billion cubic meters annually. This is on top of the 7,000-kilometer pipeline between the two countries that is expected to be finished this year, and a US$3 billion loan deal to expand a Turkmen gas field. China and Turkmenistan have been getting pretty friendly. But Beijing is also showing the love to Taipei. The respective governments are said to be close to signing memorandums of understanding (MOUs) on cross-strait banking. The MOUs would cover the banking, insurance and brokerage sectors and are seen as necessary for Beijing and Taipei to open their markets to each other’s financial institutions.