To the Chinese capital city Beijing, President Xi Jinping spent part of his day with Norway's King Harald the FIFTH, who is visiting Beijing. The president and the king agreed to kickstart new momentum into the growth of bilateral ties. CGTN's Su Yuting has more.

This state visit to China for Norway's King Harald the fifth and Her Majesty the Queen, Sonja featured a special welcoming ceremony in Beijing.

It's the fourth such visit for the royal couple since 1985, and includes an accompanying delegation of about 340 business people. They come from various sectors, representing 140 companies, the largest ever to visit China.

After the welcoming ceremony, the two sides held talks on cooperation covering many areas ranging from culture, to education, to business and trade and beyond.

President Xi Jinping says political trust is the foundation for growth of state-to-state relations, adding that the royal couple's visit is an important high-level one since the normalization of China-Norway relations in 2016. President Xi also discussed progress under the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative.

Norway's King praised China's economic achievements over the past forty years since the reform and opening-up, namely its sustainable development. The King also said he was impressed by the 2008 Beijing Olympics, adding that Norway is willing to strengthen cooperation with China in Winter Sports, and to support China to host a successful 2022 Winter Olympics.

Both sides also witnessed the signing of several cooperation documents.

LIU WEIMIN, DEPUTY DIRECTOR CHINESE FOREIGN MINISTRY'S DEPARTMENT OF EUROPEAN AFFAIRS "The two sides also talked about the China-Norway Free Trade Agreement. And both agreed to work for an early conclusion of the signing of the relevent documents so as to further enhance practical cooperation in various areas. Both China and Norway have sent a strong message to the world that both sides will promote free trade and safeguard an open world economy and oppose protectionism, that will be significant not only to the development of bilateral trade but also important to the multilateral trading system."

SU YUTING BEIJING "Norway was one of the first Western countries that established diplomatic ties with China. Both sides believe that the visit of the King and Queen will serve as an important opportunity to strengthen China-Norway cooperation. The royal couple will also visit Shanghai to attend business events focusing on marine technology and sustainability. Su Yuting, CGTN, Beijing."