Chinese Vice President Han Zheng meets Canadian and Danish business leaders in Beijing

Chinese Vice President Han Zheng held separate meetings in Beijing on Thursday with a delegation of prominent business leaders led by Canada's Minister of Industry Melanie Joly, and with Lars Rebien Sørensen, chair of the Novo Nordisk Foundation and chair of the board of directors of Novo Nordisk.

During his meeting with the Canadian delegation, Han emphasized that China and Canada possess strong economic complementarities and significant potential for enhanced cooperation. He stated that China is prepared to work with Canada to implement consensus reached by the two countries' leaders, consolidate cooperation in traditional areas, and strengthen collaboration in emerging sectors including new energy vehicles and artificial intelligence. Han expressed commitment to advancing a China-Canada new strategic partnership on a sound, stable and sustainable foundation. Joly reciprocated the sentiment, indicating that Canada is willing to deepen mutually beneficial cooperation between the two countries' enterprises and promote the sound and stable development of bilateral relations.

In his separate meeting with Sørensen, Han noted that the Chinese government places great importance on public health and expressed hope that Novo Nordisk will leverage its strengths to participate actively in the Healthy China Initiative. Han reaffirmed that China will continue to expand high-level opening up and strive to foster a business environment that is market-oriented, law-based and internationalized, while supporting foreign-funded enterprises including Novo Nordisk in achieving improved development within the country.

Sørensen responded positively, emphasizing that Novo Nordisk is optimistic about China's economic prospects. He stated that the company will continue to expand its business operations in China and participate in the development of the country's pharmaceutical industry.