Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

recognized the

People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

(PRC) on January 9, 1950, and the two countries established diplomatic relations on May 11, 1950. On February 15, 1956, the two countries upgraded diplomatic relations from ministerial to ambassadorial level and exchanged ambassadors. China has an embassy in

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...

. Denmark has an embassy in Beijing and 4 general consulates in

Chongqing ChongqingPostal Romanization, Previously romanized as Chungking ();. is a direct-administered municipality in Southwestern China. Chongqing is one of the four direct-administered municipalities under the State Council of the People's Republi ...

Guangzhou Guangzhou, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Canton or Kwangchow, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Guangdong Provinces of China, province in South China, southern China. Located on the Pearl River about nor ...

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

and

Shanghai Shanghai, Shanghainese: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: is a direct-administered municipality and the most populous urban area in China. The city is located on the Chinese shoreline on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the ...

History

In 1870, the

Danish ironclad Tordenskjold Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A Danish person, also called a "Dane", can be a national or citizen of Denmark (see Demographics of Denmark) * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, ...

visited the

Qing dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing, was a Manchu-led Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China and an early modern empire in East Asia. The last imperial dynasty in Chinese history, the Qing dynasty was preceded by the ...

. In 1899 and 1900, the Danish cruiser Valkyrien visited Qing China with

Prince Valdemar of Denmark Prince Valdemar of Denmark (27 October 1858 – 14 January 1939) was a member of the Danish royal family. He was the third son and youngest child of Christian IX of Denmark and Louise of Hesse-Kassel. He had a lifelong naval career. Early l ...

aboard. In 1950, Denmark became the second western country to recognize the People's Republic of China. Since 2000, the most important area of cooperation between China and Denmark has been energy, with a particular focus on

renewable energy Renewable energy (also called green energy) is energy made from renewable resource, renewable natural resources that are replenished on a human lifetime, human timescale. The most widely used renewable energy types are solar energy, wind pow ...

wind power Wind power is the use of wind energy to generate useful work. Historically, wind power was used by sails, windmills and windpumps, but today it is mostly used to generate electricity. This article deals only with wind power for electricity ge ...

. Denmark describes Sino-Danish energy cooperation as the "crown jewel" of its broader energy partnership program. At the end of 2005, the two countries launched the Sino-Danish Wind Energy Program to help China learn from the Danish wind power experience in areas including the development of advanced wind power technology, wind resource assessment, and personnel training. The program lasted until 2010, providing important assistance to China at a time when its wind power capacity was doubling every two years (2006–2009). China and Denmark launched the Renewable Energy Development program in 2008 with the goals of developing capacity and technological innovation in China. The Danish government also supported the creation of the China National Renewable Energy Center (CNREC), which as of 2023 is the Danish government's most important initiative in China. Although is a China-led center, Denmark directly supports its operations and leadership, including via a seat on CNREC's advisory committee. In November 2024, Denmark's Minister of Climate, Energy and Utilities Lars Aagaard referred to Chinese wind turbine manufacturers as a "threat" and said that the government has tools that ensure that its largest offshore wind tender to date goes to "someone we can trust." In 2023, Chinese firm

Huawei Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. ("Huawei" sometimes stylized as "HUAWEI"; ; zh, c=华为, p= ) is a Chinese multinational corporationtechnology company in Longgang, Shenzhen, Longgang, Shenzhen, Guangdong. Its main product lines include teleco ...

was accused of espionage against Danish telecom group

TDC Holding A/S TDC Holding A/S or TDC Group (formerly Tele Danmark Communications) is a Danish telecommunications company dating back to 1879. TDC Group is the largest telecommunications company in Denmark. The company's headquarters are located in Copenhagen. ...

during a 5G network contract bid. In November 2024, the

Royal Danish Navy The Royal Danish Navy (, ) is the Naval warfare, sea-based branch of the Danish Armed Forces force. The RDN is mainly responsible for maritime defence and maintaining the sovereignty of Denmark, Danish territorial waters (incl. Faroe Islands and ...

monitored a Chinese shipping vessel, the ''

Yi Peng 3 On 17–18 November 2024, two submarine telecommunication cables, the BCS East-West Interlink and C-Lion1 fibre-optic cables were disrupted in the Baltic Sea. The incidents involving both cables occurred in close proximity of each other and nea ...

'', in the

Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by the countries of Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden, and the North European Plain, North and Central European Plain regions. It is the ...

after it was found be in the vicinity of two severed undersea fiber-optic data cables and suspected of sabotage. In March 2025, Denmark's Centre for Cyber Security (CFCS) stated that the Danish telecom sector was being actively targeted by state-backed hackers from China.

Human rights concerns

Dalai Lama

China suspended ties with Denmark after its Prime Minister met the

Dalai Lama The Dalai Lama (, ; ) is the head of the Gelug school of Tibetan Buddhism. The term is part of the full title "Holiness Knowing Everything Vajradhara Dalai Lama" (圣识一切瓦齐尔达喇达赖喇嘛) given by Altan Khan, the first Shu ...

and resumed them only after the Danish government issued a statement in December 2009 saying it would oppose Tibetan independence and consider Beijing's reaction before inviting him again.

Hong Kong

In June 2020, Denmark openly opposed the

Hong Kong national security law Hong Kong national security legislation may refer to one of the following laws/bills: Laws in force * Law of the People's Republic of China on Safeguarding National Security in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, 2020 national law of C ...

Uyghurs

In January 2022, Denmark announced a diplomatic boycott of the

2022 Winter Olympics The 2022 Winter Olympics, officially called the XXIV Olympic Winter Games () and commonly known as Beijing 2022 (2022), were an international winter multi-sport event held from 4 to 20 February 2022 in Beijing, China, and surrounding areas wit ...

due to concerns about the Chinese government's human rights abuses of Uyghurs. In May 2025, Danish political parties

Red–Green Alliance In politics, a red–green alliance or red–green coalition is an alliance of "red" (often social-democratic or democratic socialist) parties with "green" (often green and/or occasionally agrarian) parties. The alliance is often based on commo ...

Danish People's Party The Danish People's Party (DPP; , DF) is a nationalist and right-wing populist political party in Denmark. It was formed in 1995 by former members of the Progress Party (FrP). The party saw a period of significant growth after its founding a ...

, The Alternative called for an investigation into

transnational repression Transnational repression is a type of political repression conducted by a state outside its borders. It often involves targeting political dissidents or critical members of diaspora communities abroad and can take the forms of assassinations and/o ...

against Uyghurs and Tibetans living in Denmark.

Greenland

China has invested in several projects in Greenland, including in mines for

rare-earth elements The rare-earth elements (REE), also called the rare-earth metals or rare earths, and sometimes the lanthanides or lanthanoids (although scandium and yttrium, which do not belong to this series, are usually included as rare earths), are a set of ...

iron Iron is a chemical element; it has symbol Fe () and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 of the periodic table. It is, by mass, the most common element on Earth, forming much of Earth's o ...

, and

uranium Uranium is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol U and atomic number 92. It is a silvery-grey metal in the actinide series of the periodic table. A uranium atom has 92 protons and 92 electrons, of which 6 are valence electrons. Ura ...

. In 2018, the

China Communications Construction China Communications Construction Company, Ltd. (CCCC) is a Chinese majority state-owned, publicly traded, multinational engineering and construction company primarily engaged in the design, construction, and operation of infrastructure assets, ...

responded to a request for proposals from the

Government of Greenland The Naalakkersuisut or the Government of Greenland () is the chief executive body, the cabinet and the government of Greenland since the island became self-governing in 1979. As an autonomous territory of the Kingdom of Denmark, Greenland is a p ...

for the construction and operation of three airports in

Nuuk Nuuk (; , formerly ) is the capital and most populous city of Greenland, an autonomous territory in the Kingdom of Denmark. Nuuk is the seat of government and the territory's largest cultural and economic center. It is also the seat of gove ...

Ilulissat Ilulissat, also known as Jacobshavn or Jakobshav, is the municipal seat and largest town of the Avannaata municipality in western Greenland, located approximately north of the Arctic Circle. With a population of 4,670 as of 2020, it is the ...

and

Qaqortoq Qaqortoq (), also known as Julianehåb, is the capital city of the Kujalleq municipalities of Greenland, municipality in southern Greenland, located near Cape Thorvaldsen. With a population of 3,050 in 2020, it is the most populous town in sout ...

. The government of Denmark objected to the bid, citing security objections.

References

External links

Ministry Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China about relations with Denmark

Danish embassy in Beijing
{{DEFAULTSORT:China-Denmark Relations

Bilateral relations of Denmark