Fifteen Slovenian companies presented themselves on May 15th to potential business partners in China as part of an economic delegation, seeking new opportunities for cooperation in advanced technologies, information solutions, energy, industrial equipment, smart cities, and business services.
The delegation was organised by SPIRIT Slovenia and the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Slovenia in cooperation with partners.
The Chengdu Slovenia Business Forum events was attended by H.E. Excellency, Ambassador Boštjan Malovrh, Ambassador of Slovenia to Beijing, Mr. YIN Jian, General Director of Chengdu Opening-up and International Cooperation Center, Mr. Samo Logar, Deputy Mayor of the City of Ljubljana,
Mr. Dejan Crnek, Deputy Mayor of the City of Ljubljana,
Mr. Gregor Košir, Mayor of Kočevje and
Mr. Andrej Mladenovič, Deputy Mayor of Kočevje
Chengdu is considered one of the most dynamic economic centres in western China, with the region experiencing rapid economic growth and technological development. The visit was therefore focused on strengthening direct business ties between Slovenian and Chinese companies, showcasing Slovenian technological, industrial, and service solutions, and identifying concrete opportunities for long-term cooperation.
The director of Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Slovenia, Chamber of the Central Slovenia Region, Ms. Gordana Kisilak, congratulated organisers in Chengdu for their excellent cooperation, warm hospitality, and strong commitment to organising the Chengdu Slovenia Business Forum and highlighted that the Slovenian delegation highly appreciates their openness, professionalism, and readiness to strengthen cooperation with Slovenian companies and institutions.
“Events like today are important because they create more than business opportunities — they create trust, understanding, and long-term partnerships between people, companies, and regions. And this is exactly what relations between Slovenia and China should continue to build upon in the future, ” said Ms. Kisilak during the plenary part of the Forum.
Informing the Chinese companies and representatives of the Chengdu Opening-up and International Cooperation Center, Ms. Kisilak highlighted the significant role of the Central Slovenian Regional Chamber, which is the largest regional chamber in Slovenia and covers 31 municipalities, and congratulated the cities of Ljubljana and Kočevje on their proactivity and participation in the delegation.
“Slovenian companies are innovative, flexible, highly specialised, and export-oriented. They are looking for reliable long-term partners and new opportunities in one of the world’s most dynamic and technologically advanced markets. At the same time, the Central Slovenian Regional Chamber sees Chengdu as an impressive and forward-looking city — a city of innovation, technology, logistics, talent, creativity, and international connectivity. This Business forum is not only about presentations and meetings. It is about building bridges. It is about strengthening trust. And it is about transforming dialogue into concrete cooperation and long-term partnerships. But even more importantly, both municipalities have come to Chengdu together with companies from their local environments. This clearly demonstrates that we see real opportunities for cooperation between our regions — in business, innovation, sustainable development, tourism, logistics, smart cities, and people-to-people exchange,” concluded Kisilak and invited the Chendu representatives to visit Slovenia where a similar Business Forum will be organised in the future.
The Chengdu – Slovenia business forum was attended by more than 100 representatives of companies and institutions from Slovenia and China. As part of the forum, individual business meetings were also held between Slovenian and Chinese companies, aimed at establishing new business contacts, exploring concrete opportunities, and strengthening cooperation between companies from both countries.
The greatest interest in Slovenian companies was shown by Chinese businesses operating in the fields of artificial intelligence, energy, smart cities, industrial equipment, and business services. These sectors are increasingly connected with opportunities in electric mobility, advanced technologies, information solutions, pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, research and development, green technologies, the automotive industry, and high-tech manufacturing.
China Remains the Most Important Asian Market for the Slovenian Economy
At the business forum, Deputy Director of SPIRIT Slovenia, Ms Nataša Kos, MSc, presented Slovenia as an innovative, export-oriented, and sustainability-focused economy integrated into European and global supply chains. She also highlighted Slovenia’s competitive advantages, its strategic location in the heart of Europe, and the importance of the Port of Koper as a key entry point for Asian-European logistics flows.
China is Slovenia’s largest merchandise trading partner in Asia and one of Slovenia’s most important trading partners overall. According to data from the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Slovenia, Slovenia exported goods worth EUR 234 million to China last year, while imports from China reached EUR 9.1 billion. This made China Slovenia’s fourth most important merchandise trading partner. The figures confirm the importance of continued economic cooperation, while also highlighting the potential for greater visibility of Slovenian solutions and companies on the Chinese market.
Chengdu as a Hub for Technological Cooperation
This year, the Slovenian business delegation was the largest among the delegations from partner cities participating in the international forum in Chengdu. The visit took place at the same time as Ljubljana and Chengdu mark 45 years of friendly relations, providing an additional institutional framework for economic cooperation.
As part of the programme, Slovenian companies also became acquainted with advanced solutions in the fields of artificial intelligence, robotics, smart cities, digital infrastructure, and technological development in the Chengdu region. Visits to development and technology centres gave participating companies insight into the innovation ecosystem of one of the key economic and technological hubs of western China.
The delegation included the companies Domel, Kovinoplastika Lož, ABC nepremičnine, BITS Dynamics, Huawei Technologies Ljubljana, Interteam, Good4Dogs, AEC, X2SOL, X4DATA, Brezmejni um, Nord Communication Adria, Kostja Draginc, Dejan Ferbežar, and Gea College.
The delegation to Chengdu was organised by SPIRIT Slovenia and the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Slovenia in cooperation with the Central Slovenia Regional Chamber of Commerce, the Slovenian-Chinese Business Council, the City Municipality of Ljubljana, the Ministry of the Economy, Tourism and Sport of Slovenia, the Embassy of the Republic of Slovenia in Beijing, and the Consulate of the Republic of Slovenia in Shanghai.
