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Trade between China and Sweden began to develop rapidly when the Swedish East India
Company was founded in 1731. The successful English and Dutch East India companies
already trading were closely studied and the decision was made to develop international
trade with China. Many ships were sent to China and came back loaded mainly with
silk, porcelain, tea and spices. Until 1806 at least 130 voyages, mostly with commercial
perspective, were sent from Sweden to China. In this period the Swedish ships mainly
sailed between the city of Gothenburg on the west coast of Sweden and the port city
of Guangdong (Canton).
The kingdom of Sweden recognized the People's Republic of China on 14th of January
1950. The same year Sweden made history, when it as the first western country established
diplomatic relations with China on 9th of May 1950. The two countries decided quickly
hereafter to exchange ambassadors within the same year.
Since the establishment of diplomatic relations, Chinese-Swedish relations developed
progressively. Bilateral exchanges and cooperation at various levels in the fields
of politics, economy and culture increased constantly and have through the years
achieved remarkable results.
The development of the Chinese-Swedish economic relations has especially been pushed
forward by several ministerial contacts and more frequent exchanges of high level
visits. Up through the 90'ties cooperation at various levels between various government
departments, enhanced the mutual understanding of each others economies and resulted
in several bilateral agreements and friendly relations between the two countries.
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