Ávarp í móttöku í sendiráði Íslands í Kína 27. október 2026

Ávarp Þorgerðar Katrínar Gunnarsdóttur, utanríkisráðherra, í móttöku sem haldin var í sendiráði Íslands í Kína þann 27. október 2026.

 

Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,

It gives me great pleasure to address you here today as we mark the 55th anniversary of the diplomatic relations between Iceland and China.

I am pleased to welcome Mr. Cai Wei, Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs People’s Republic of China.

Underlining the importance of our diplomatic ties, I am pleased to see three former Ambassadors of China to Iceland honouring us with their presence here today. Ambassador Wang Ronghua, Ambassador Su Ge and Ambassador Jin Zhijian.

I have very fond memories of my previous visits to Beijing. In 2008, I was fortunate to experience the remarkable achievement when China hosted the Olympics. It was especially meaningful for me personally to witness the Icelandic handball team win the silver medal at these games. Those who know me, are aware of my strong ties to the sport.

This time, I will be travelling to Qingdao to visit one of the largest seafood expo in the world, leading a delegation of prominent companies from Iceland, eager to sell more of our high-quality seafood to the Chinese market.

After which, I will return to Beijing for a meeting with Foreign Minister Wang Yi. I look forward to our talk, which I hope will be frank and fruitful.

Fisheries you may ask, is that an issue for the foreign minister? Yes, I tell you, because fisheries remain the backbone of our economy, despite diversification of our exports and the growing importance of the tourism industry. It was fisheries, which lifted Iceland out of poverty after WWII and paved the way to the society we are today, a prosperous welfare state. A major factor in these developments was the extension of our economic zone, from 12 to 50 and finally to 200 miles.

This was not an easy endeavour for a small state a relative newcomer to world diplomacy. Not all states agreed to this extension, many of our allies and neighbours did not. In all of this, we did have a vocal supporter, which was China – calling on the superpowers to stop plundering the resources of the smaller coastal states. It laid the ground for our friendly relations, built on mutual respect and led to the establishment of our diplomatic relations in 1971. The same year, on October 25th, the General Assembly adopted a Resolution restoring all the rights of the People's Republic of China in the United Nations. An important step for China and the world.

Fifty-five years is a long time in a person’s life but a short time in the history of a nation. Despite that, both Iceland and China have come a long way since 1971, both nations have prospered and developed for the benefit of their people.

Earlier this month, I participated in an event commemorating the Höfði Summit in Reykjavík. A meeting between US President Ronald Reagan and the Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev, which took part 40 years ago. The aim was to deescalate the nuclear armament race. These leaders of the world’s two nuclear superpowers met to contemplate reductions in their nuclear arsenals on a scale that few had thought possible. After the meeting historical agreements followed – and we felt safer. The end of the Cold War was close, even if we were not aware of it at the time as we knew no other world. I do hope optimism will return, as the euphoria we all felt when the suppressing darkness of the Cold War almost vanished overnight.

I also truly hope we are close to the end of the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine, and that the brave and resilient people of Ukraine will feel safe again. I hope peaceful and just solutions to the many conflicts and wars around the world will be found to ease the suffering of the people – and we look to China – a strong power – to show its strength by stepping in to facilitate frameworks and underpin efforts to secure peace. To truly be the protector of the small and the vulnerable – safeguarding the multilateral system we need just as much today as at the time it was formed.

I recall the optimism and enthusiasm; I felt during my first visit to China twenty years ago. The future was bright. I was at the time Minister for Education and Culture, and I believed then, as I still do, that culture is a strong bridge between nations, supporting people-to-people relations and thus enhancing understanding and mutual respect. We need more of that. Hopefully, we can build closer cultural ties based on our already stable economic and trade ties.

In our lives, as in the relationship between countries, there are certain “firsts” that we cherish. Iceland was the first European country to sign a Free Trade Agreement with China. A milestone of which we are very proud and one that laid an important foundation of our growing and predictable trade relations. I hope my visit this fall with numerous Icelandic companies will have a positive effect and open new opportunities for further export from Iceland to China.

A potential driver of growing exports is the prospect of more efficient connections. The first direct flight from Iceland to China landed this morning bringing businesspeople from various sectors in Iceland, some looking for new opportunities, others already with established trade ties. The flight took about 15 hours with a short stop in Copenhagen.

Tourism has grown to become a major source of income for Iceland. The direct flight will bring more tourists from China and my team at the Embassy in Beijing is busier than ever issuing visas for the travellers. I have heard Bing Dao has a positive image in China and many young Chinese relate to Iceland, its location far up in the north, the northern lights, hot steam rising from the earth which can be a fairy tale background for a noteworthy selfie.

Iceland’s geothermal energy has also been a successful point of collaboration between our two countries. Iceland is one of the global leaders in harnessing geothermal energy, an expertise that we have been sharing with China since 1979 through the Geothermal Training Programme. The partnership between Arctic Green Energy and SINOPEC is now bringing geothermal heating to more than 70 cities and districts across China.  Thus making a joint contribution to the efforts of mitigating the effects of the climate crisis.

I want to finally express my hope that the direct flights will bring about more people-to-people interaction; allow more Icelanders to explore the wonders of China, strengthen our business ties and bring about more collaboration in the field of green technology.

On this celebratory occasion, let us lift our glasses and drink to Iceland-China relations and for a more peaceful and prosperous world!