Finland's president to meet Xi on state visit to China

OSLO (Reuters) -Finland's President Alexander Stubb will go on a state visit to China from Oct. 28-31 for meetings with Chinese President Xi Jinping and other senior government officials, the Finnish government said on Wednesday.

Stubb will discuss bilateral relations as well as the war between Russia and Ukraine and other security issues, his office said in a statement.

Finland and China have been engaged in delicate diplomacy since October of last year over the possible role of a Hong Kong-registered cargo vessel in the damage caused to the Balticconnector gas pipeline.

Finnish police in a still-ongoing investigation have concluded the pipeline was likely ripped apart by an anchor dragged across it, hurting Finland's energy security and resulting in a costly six-month repair.

Stubb's predecessor Sauli Niinisto said at the time of his retirement in March this year that the diplomatic handling of the incident had been subject to "subtle yet determined work of all participants".

(Reporting by Terje Solsvik; Editing by Andrew Heavens and Toby Chopra)