Chinese intelligence activities also target Chinese refugees and
organisations working for Tibet, Xinjiang and Taiwan, for example, and
political decision-making. China occasionally attempts to counteract the
exercise of freedom of expression and assembly in Sweden with respect to
issues relating to China.
Sweden’s bilateral development cooperation with China was
discontinued in 2013, but support is still given to the Raoul Wallenberg
Institute for educational activities concerning human rights. In the area of
environment and climate change, Sweden has supported capacity-building
activities, and several joint Chinese-Swedish initiatives in the areas of
environment and climate change, CSR and health originate from projects
financed by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency
(Sida). Sweden gives support to the China Council for International
Cooperation on Environment and Development, which advises the
Chinese Government on environmental issues.
The number of Chinese tourists and travellers coming to Sweden is
increasing. In 2018, Chinese citizens accounted for 349 000 hotel nights
in Sweden, making China the ninth-largest country of origin. In 2017,
5 672 Chinese citizens applied for residence permits in Sweden on various
grounds. A recurrent concern associated with the migration flows from
China to Europe is the incidence of illegal immigration.
At present, Sweden has relatively under-developed research cooperation
with China, although many Swedish actors cooperate with China at
different levels. Of around 600 000 Chinese citizens studying abroad,
2 671 came to Sweden for the 2017/18 academic year. The number of
Chinese students declined in 2011 when tuition fees were introduced in
Sweden, but numbers have begun to increase again in recent years and
Chinese students remain the largest student group from outside Europe. In
addition to the introduction of tuition fees, the decline is due in part to the
fact that Chinese students generally favour an education in Englishspeaking countries. The long processing times in the Swedish admissions
system are a challenge, as are the limited opportunities for foreign students
to gain work experience in Sweden.
Sweden has a memorandum of understanding with China that aims to
promote cultural exchange in the areas of film, the performing arts,
literature, libraries and cultural heritage, and to stimulate exchange of
specialists and exhibitions. The China Cultural Center has been
established in Stockholm.
Sweden’s relations with China are adversely affected by a number of
bilateral problems. One of these is the case of detained Swedish citizen
Gui Minhai, in which, despite demands from the Swedish Government,
the Chinese authorities refuse to fulfil China’s obligations under
international consular agreements, and refuse to heed Sweden’s demands
for Gui’s release. The case has attracted international attention, and
Sweden’s demands are shared by the EU and a number of other countries.
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