Norway hopes to iron out a free-trade agreement with China during 2011, its trade and industry minister said after a $2 billion sale of a Norwegian silicon producer to a Chinese company. "We have the ambition to land the trade deal during 2011," Trond Giske told Reuters.

Diplomats have said a free trade deal between Norway and China could serve as a blueprint for a potential trade agreement between China and the European Union. Norway is not an EU member.

Beijing has been furious at Norway since the Norwegian Nobel Committee awarded the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize to Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo in October, and has indefinitely postponed the next negotiating round in trade talks with Oslo.

"We're in a continuous dialogue with the Chinese, but it's not been decided when the next round of talks will take place," Giske said in an interview.

"We're in a tough phase of the negotiations, where we'll have to bring down tariffs. Both sides must make concessions to make the deal really substantive."

Giske has said the $2 billion sale by Norwegian conglomerate Orkla of its Elkem unit to China National BlueStar would hopefully mark a return to "business as usual" between the two states.

Fast-growing China is keen on importing energy and technology from Norway, one of the world's biggest exporters of oil and natural gas with ample experience in offshore drilling. (Reuters)