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China can look to Sweden as a model as it pushes forward with reforms and tries to set up a sound social welfare system, experts said during Premier Wen Jiabao's current tour of Europe. Oliver Brauner, China expert at the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, said Wen's visit to Sweden should be about more than economics and trade deals. The rich in China are becoming richer and the poor poorer, and the country should improve its healthcare and pension systems, he said. "Sweden is very developed in these issues," Brauner said. "I think that there should be something for China not to copy one by one, but to look at some aspects that are useful." Sweden has also spent much on research and development and has become a center for advanced technology and innovation. "And it is with a tiny population but skilled workforce," Brauner said. "Maybe it's also due to its sound social welfare system." Anders Wijkman, a Swedish politician and current vice-chairman of the Club of Rome, an international political think tank, had similar thoughts. "Sweden has implemented social initiatives and the country is famous for equality," he said. "But the story is two-sided for China." As an example, he noted the country's "million program", in which the Swedish government built 1,006,000 apartments from 1965 to 1974 to ensure that every Swedish family could have an affordable dwelling. The project provided housing to nearly half of the country's population during that period. | 
