The number of companies in Sweden with Chinese majority-ownership totalled 114 in 2018, which corresponds to 0.8 per cent of all foreignowned companies in Sweden. Additionally, there is a significant number of companies in Sweden whose principal is a Chinese citizen. Chinese investments have contributed to creating and maintaining a large number of jobs in Sweden. An estimated 25 000 people work in Chinese-owned companies, operating in sectors such as the automotive industry, logistics and transport, the entertainment industry, IT and pharmaceuticals. Around 20 000 of these work for Volvo Cars. Chinese direct investment in Sweden totalled just under SEK 36 billion in 2018, an increase of 186 per cent on 2017, due primarily to Geely’s SEK 31 billion investment in AB Volvo. There is Chinese interest in Swedish societal solutions, technology, innovation and research, as illustrated by the large number of Chinese delegations received every year. Interagency cooperation is growing and, in official contacts, ties have been broadened considerably in areas such as the environment and sustainable urban development, corporate social responsibility (CSR), green industries and public administration. Dialogue is conducted in areas such as CSR, energy efficiency, road safety, innovation, renewable energy, sustainable forestry and agriculture, and health care. Collaboration also takes place in areas such as trade and customs simplification and space issues. Of around 50 agreements at the intergovernmental level, half have been entered into since 2010. Sweden and China hold regular bilateral discussions and joint committee meetings on trade and economics. As part of the Government’s export strategy, Team Sweden China was formed in 2017 to strengthen collaboration between Swedish actors promoting exports, investment and the image of Sweden in China. Limited military exchanges were initiated in 2001, consisting of annual high-level exchanges. A cooperation agreement in the area of health care has been in place since 2006. For more than a decade, Sweden has had a unique bilateral cooperation agreement with China on CSR, which acts as a platform to discuss standards in the areas of human rights, working conditions and corruption in a business perspective. This CSR cooperation aims to secure the status of Swedish companies, provides competitive advantages and has generated good contacts with the Chinese authorities. The Swedish CSR centre in Beijing ensures that Swedish companies continue to receive support and advice on these issues. The Swedish Security Service and foreign intelligence agencies have stated that China is actively engaged in intelligence collection in Sweden. According to the Swedish Security Service, China’s extensive activities are pursued through human intelligence and technical intelligence collection, e.g. electronic attacks. The Swedish Security Service has also stated that Sweden is in the Chinese sphere of interest in terms of strategic investments and acquisitions, and business and academic cooperation. In light of international experience and reports from the Swedish Security Service and foreign defence intelligence agencies, the Government can conclude that China is attempting in various ways to obtain intelligence about technological developments in various sectors and about Sweden’s operational capabilities and defence planning. In recent years, there have been instances of Swedish companies developing technologies with both civilian and military applications being acquired by Chinese companies. 11