Opened in 2012, the Turku Desk functions as a point of contact between Turku in Southwest Finland and Tianjin in China. They have been sister cities for 15 years based on close similarities between the two and complementary industrial characteristics. The desk’s broad objectives comprise strengthening government relations and research and technology transfer, as well as business and educational exchange projects. The sectors it encompasses include maritime, bio-science, information and communications technology (ICT), the creative industry, clean tech and food safety.