COPENHAGEN, Feb. 6 -- Danish Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt said here Friday that she expects to further develop the strong relationship between Denmark and China not only economically, but also enhance people-to-people links.

"It has definitely been our priority to deepen our friendship with China," Helle Thorning-Schmidt told Xinhua in an exclusive interview at Christiansborg, the government house.

"This goes a long way back, but we have prioritized to really deepen our relations with China and hopefully we have succeeded. We are at an all-time high in our relationship with China, and we are happy with that. This is part of our goal and this is what we wanted to achieve," she said.

HISTORY OF STRONG TIES

Denmark and China have enjoyed warm diplomatic ties over the past 65 years, and forged a comprehensive strategic partnership covering political, economic, cultural and other affairs in 2008.

In 2014, Queen of Denmark Margrethe II paid a state visit to China at the invitation of Chinese President Xi Jinping, which was the second time for her to step onto Chinese soil since her first visit in 1979. In the same year, Thorning-Schmidt visited China, also the second time during her tenure, to strengthen the political and commercial relations and expand cooperation between the two countries.

"Over the recent years, our relations have only gone from strength to strength," Thorning-Schmidt said. "China and Denmark are two very different countries, one is very big and one very small. But I don't see why we shouldn't take our relations to a new stronghold. We have so much to learn from each other and this is what we should do for the coming years."

POTENTIAL FOR COOPERATION

The prime minister also eyes stronger Sino-Danish cooperation in green economy and environmental improvement in the coming years.

"This is an area where we share the same interests and it is interesting for both of our nations to learn from each other. This is an area that I expect a lot in the coming years," she said.

She added that Denmark and China should learn from each other in other areas such as social affairs and economic development, where the two countries share common interests.

CULTURAL LINKS

By taking the Little Mermaid's trip to the Shanghai World Expo in 2010 for example, the prime minister stressed the importance of cultural exchange in promoting and deepening the bilateral relations between the two countries.

"We sent it to China because we trust the Chinese people to look after her, and they certainly did," she said. "This is a small example of the cultural exchange and that also is about people understanding each other better," she added.

Currently, Denmark is home to three Confucius Institutes for Chinese language and culture, and eight Danish universities have joined forces with the Graduate University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences to establish a new Sino-Danish University Center in China.

Cultural exchange between the two countries has been further intensified as Denmark launched in the autumn of 2014 a "Cultural Season," the largest single exposition to date of Danish art and culture in China.

Thorning-Schmidt noted that increasing two-way flow of intellectual talents between the two countries is also a way of promoting cultural exchange.

"I welcome that very much because I believe that when people meet and talk, they share, laugh and develop a new friendship that can only underline the friendship that has existed for many years between our two nations," she said

As Chinese Lunar New Year is around the corner, Thorning-Schmidt expressed her greetings to the Chinese people. "I wish you all a happy new year. I hope that the year of goat will be prosperous and happy for all Chinese people."