Norway, China resume relations after Nobel Peace Prize spat

STAVANGER, Norway – After years of strained relations with China, Norway's prime minister says the country has resumed ties with Beijing.

Erna Solberg told lawmakers Monday that Norway would now restore cooperation with "a major world economy."

The relationship between the two became frayed in 2010 when Beijing was infuriated by the Norwegian Nobel Committee's decision to award the peace prize to jailed Chinese dissident, Liu Xiaobo.

Although the Norwegian government has no say over the Nobel panel's choices, a bilateral trade deal was suspended and Norwegian salmon — a major export earner — faced restrictions in China.

Chinese state broadcaster CCTV aired footage of premier Li Keqiang meeting with Norwegian Foreign Minister Borge Brende in Beijing and said the two countries had "reached a consensus on the normalization of ties."