BEIJING -- At the invitation of Chinese President Xi Jinping, Finnish President Alexander Stubb will pay a state visit to China from Oct 28 to 31, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying announced Friday.

President Xi will hold talks with President Stubb during the visit. Li Qiang, Chinese premier, and Zhao Leji, chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, will meet with Stubb respectively to exchange views on bilateral relations and issues of common interest, Lin Jian, another foreign ministry spokesperson, told a daily press briefing.

"Finland was among the first Western countries to recognize the People's Republic of China," Lin said, adding that China-Finland relations are experiencing sound development and that the day of President Stubb's arrival in Beijing will be the 74th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between the two countries.

China is willing to maintain high-level exchanges with Finland, continue the traditional friendship, strengthen mutually beneficial cooperation in economy, trade, investment, green transformation and other fields, jointly meet global challenges, and promote the further development of bilateral relations, Lin said.