Building Bridges Between Slovenia and China
From Nobody-Knows to Someone-Knows, One Day Everybody-Knows
Mr. Zhao Binghui
Chargé d'Affaires a.i, Embassy of the People's Republic of China in Ljubljana
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How would you describe the cooperation between Slovenia and China?
In recent years, the economic and trade cooperation between China and Slovenia has been greatly improved. In 2014, China-Slovenia trade volume just reached 1 billion U.S. dollars. After 10 years, 2024, this volume has exceeded 7.8 billion U.S. dollars. While trade between our two countries is increasing annually, there is still a lot of potential to tap into, especially in high-tech, biotechnology, the auto industry, tourism and logistics.
This spring was marked by an upgrade in the mentioned cooperation and a successful follow-up activity in the previously established cooperation under the China–CEEC initiative- namely, the promotion of Slovenia at the 4th China–CEEC Expo in Ningbo. What is the feedback from China about it?
That sense of untapped potential dominated the opening day of China’s largest Central and Eastern Europe-focused trade fair — the 4th China-CEEC Expo, on 22 May in Ningbo, where Slovenia – one of the guests of honor, showcased its strengths in the auto industry and innovative technologies. Under the support of the Slovenian government, the Spirit and the Chamber of Commerce and Industry, representatives of a number of Slovenian companies visited Ningbo and Shanghai. All agreed that this visit has been extremely successful, exceeding expectations. The booming trades between China and Slovenia witness the lasting efforts of the business world in both countries. Elan for Sports equipment, Pipistrel for airplanes, Gorenje for household appliances, Medex for honey. These famous Slovenian brands have taken roots and blossomed in China, from nobody-knows to somebody-knows, one day everybody-knows. Hisense is the most successful Chinese company in Slovenia. Through reorganization, Gorenje, one of Slovenia’s most respected and well-established brands, a traditional company with 75 years of experience in manufacturing household appliances, has been reborn and has been Slovenia’s largest exporter for many years.
TAM-Europe is also a sweet memory for Maribor. With the help of a Chinese company, it has also been revitalized. Now, its automotive products are quite popular in Europe and the Middle East.
What is the key advice for those who plan to do business with China?
In my opinion, they should include accurate insight into market demands, strict control of product quality, unremitting pursuit of technological innovation, deep understanding of business culture, coordination and cooperation of the management team, and smooth and effective communication system and etc.
Not all enterprises can be successful, but successful enterprises have common features.
There is a Slovenian proverb says, the shared joy is double the joy.
For example, Slovenia – China Business Cultural Days should be organized more frequently because they are not only a celebration for individual communication, but also an inspiration for common growth. These occasions show that we are willing to learn from each other and promote economic and trade between China and Slovenia to achieve more fruitful results and deliver more tangible benefits to people in both countries.
Deep understanding of business culture
China emphasizes the importance of people-to-people exchanges and mutually beneficial cooperation with countries around the world. What are the recent milestones in that field?
China’s recent decision to grant visa-free entry to Slovenian citizens has further strengthened people-to-people exchanges, while efforts such as the Belt and Road Initiative continue to create new avenues for collaboration. In particular, the CEEC cooperation framework as “a really important initiative” has been providing Slovenia with new platforms for engagement.
Amid profound changes in the international landscape and growing challenges to global economic development, China remains committed to being a contributor to global development and a defender of the international order. China will continue to pursue high-quality development and advance high-standard opening-up, while promoting mutually beneficial cooperation with countries around the world, including in Central and Eastern Europe, to share development opportunities and bring greater stability and certainty to the global economy.
China remains committed to being a contributor to global development and a defender of the international order
In what way is this year significant for the cultural cooperation between Slovenia and China?
The most important cultural institution, vital for the promotion of Chinese culture and tradition, celebrates its 15th birthday in Slovenia. For 15 years, the Confucius Institute Ljubljana has played an active role in promoting China-Slovenia overall development, especially cultural and educational cooperation. I express my gratitude to the Confucius Institute Ljubljana for its outstanding contribution and congratulate it on the 15th anniversary of its establishment.
The Congress of Slovenian-Chinese Opportunities on May 29th was organized in Ljubljana by Blaž Štefe, Jerneja Čeligoj and Euro-Sino Automotive Association (ESAA)
