The Chinese-Norwegian relationship ran into a large setback in 2010 because the Norwegian parliament-appointed Norwegian Nobel Committee awarded the prize to incarcerated Chinese human rights activist , Liu Xiaobo . China reacted strongly , saying that relations between their two countries had been damaged . A planned meeting in Beijing between Norwegian Fisheries Minister Lisbeth Berg-Hansen and Chinese food control authorities was cancelled at the last minute , ostensibly because their counterparts had " other engagements " ; Norwegian officials said that a meeting due to be held the same day between Berg-Hansen and the Chinese vice-minister for fisheries had been cancelled in reaction to the award . Elsewhere , performances of a Norwegian musical scheduled for the following month starring Alexander Rybak , winner of the Eurovision Song Contest 2009 , also fell victim to the diplomatic fallout , according to the musical 's composer . In early December , Norway announced that its bilateral trade talks with China had been indefinitely put on hold . Haakon Hjelde , Norway 's negotiator alleged the postponement was not directly linked to the award , but Henning Kristofferson , director of international relations of the BI Norwegian School of Management , was certain that this was a retaliatory move . He said that Beijing had been " very clear that the prize was a big mistake and that it would damage relations . " Press secretary of Norway 's foreign ministry ( Hilde Steinfeld ) confirmed in November 2011 , the absence of bilateral talks during the last 12 months
Eurovision Song Contest 2009
Eurovision Song Contest 2009
China–Norway relations