Norway and China in Retrospect

Norway became a independant constitutional monarchy in 1905 – then predominantly a country of small farmers and fisherman but also with an emerging heavy industry based on the development of hydropower.

In the post WW II era Norway, together with the other nordic countries, has enjoyed a stable and peaceful development of all sectors of the society. With the discovery in 1969 of the largest deep sea petroleum mineral reserve (“ekofisk”) Norway embarked on a strategy of careful exploitation and management of these reserves in the North Sea keeping sovereign control and the financial management of earnings as a public good. This brought Norway on to the world stage as a leader in both deep sea drilling petroleum industry based services and more recently as a leading manager of the largest global sovereign fund (Government Pension Fund Global) with a current value of over 1.2 trillon US$: The fund | Norges Bank Investment Management (nbim.no).

Norway is also the leading per capita exporter of fish and fishery products worldwide and in real terms the second largest exporter after China being the largest exporter (in 2020: China exported for 20.8 bn US$/Norway exported for 11.9 bn US$). Norway exported 3.1 million tonnes of seafood worth NOK 120.8 billion in 2021. This sets a record in both volume and value and represents the equivalent of 42 million seafood meals every single day of the year. Read more about Norwegian Seafood here.

This year (2023) marks the 45th anniversary of China’s reform and opening. With its vast population of over 1.4 billion the emergence of China as a major player on the world stage has created new opportunities but also geopolitical challenges.

Since becoming member of the WTO in October of 2001 China is now a integral and crucial contributor to the global economy and the top trading partner to more than 120 countries and the second most important economy after the United States as measured in Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and the largest economy as measured in Purchasing Power Parity (PPP). China is now the driver of the powerful economic growth of its neighbouring (ASEAN) countries and the global economy.

Until recently China has shown remarkable resilience in the face of current trade and financial constraints due to a veritabel explosive increase in a domestic service based industry and with the recent policy of so called “Rural Revitalization” together with trade integration has been the driver for the eradication of poverty in China (UN 2030) helping billions of people become wealthier, healthier, and better educated.

The Rural Revitalization Policy emphasizes the importance of rural development, including the need to develop rural businesses, create a pleasant living environment, promote civility and effective governance, and improve the living standards of rural residents. This policy with the country’s commitment to opening up through high-quality development of China’s Service Sector is now creating unprecedented opportunities for exchange and cooperation within all sectors of society.

The last decade China has taken a host of important initiatives with the development of the Shanghai Cooperation; the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI); and the the BRICS Initiative & BRICS New Development Bank. With the recent decision for BRICS expansion set for from 2024 (BRICS + 6) we are now in a new era of true multipolarity.