After centuries of cordial relations—from the Swedish East India Company’s ships sailing between Gothenburg and Guangzhou in the 18th century to Sweden’s early recognition of the People’s Republic in 1950 and its blessing in 2010 of the Chinese takeover of Volvo, a much-loved carmaker—the mood has changed. Last October the Swedish telecoms regulator barred Huawei, Ericsson’s Chinese rival, from the country’s speedy 5mobile networks, citing “theft of technology” by China.
That would be bad news for Ericsson, which derives 13% of its revenues from China. It is the only foreign company that provides China with certain types of 5kit—which China is well ahead of most other countries in installing, thanks to gargantuan sums channelled into telecoms infrastructure. But Mr Ekholm’s fellow bosses are equally worried, if not quite as outspoken.
Joakim Abeleen, the Beijing representative of Business Sweden, a lobby group, observes that diplomatic ties soured after 2015. That year Chinese agents arrested Gui Minhai, a Swedish national who sold books in Hong Kong that were critical of the Communist Party. This, along with Chinese buyers’ aggressive pursuit of Swedish assets, including a port, infuriated Sweden’s government, which has since become one of Europe’s staunchest critics of China.
Even so, Mr Abeleen says, relations between the two countries’ corporate worlds remained cordial. Swedish exports to China rose by 15% in the first ten months of 2020, year on year. It is Sweden’s fifth-biggest source of imports and sixth-largest export market. Around 600 subsidiaries of Swedish companies operate there; the 30 biggest reported an 18% increase in their Chinese sales in 2019, compared with a year earlier.
Isn’t it time you did an honest piece on why so much of the world seems to be having a problem with China? Or does such a piece have to be cleared with, “ He Who Must Not Be Named”?
Wuhan virus spread worldwide,retaliation and threat vs dissident and against all of us . When will we answer to communist china ?
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