BRATISLAVA – Slovak President Peter Pellegrini stated after talks with a Chinese delegation that trade relations between Slovakia and China are reaching record levels. According to him, the total volume of mutual trade has already exceeded 10 billion euros. At the same time, however, he pointed out the long-term trade imbalance, which is negative from Slovakia's perspective.
The President recalled that Slovakia imports significantly more goods from China than it exports to the Chinese market. For this reason, during the talks he asked Chinese representatives to create more favourable conditions for Slovak companies interested in expanding their activities in China.
"Our goal is to achieve fairer access for Slovak companies to the Chinese market and to support the growth of Slovak exports," said Pellegrini after the conclusion of the talks. According to the President, quality Slovak products and technologies have the potential to succeed in one of the world's largest markets as well, provided they are given comparable conditions to domestic or foreign competitors.
According to the President, the talks did not focus solely on trade. Both sides also discussed possibilities for expanding cooperation in promising sectors, including modern technologies, digitalisation, artificial intelligence and scientific research. Pellegrini described these areas as strategic for the future competitiveness of the Slovak economy.
An important part of the discussions was also cooperation in education and research. The President announced that he would ask the Slovak Minister of Education to prepare a specialist mission to China, which would be attended by representatives of Slovak universities, research institutions and the academic sphere. The aim of the visit is to establish new partnerships, joint research projects and to expand academic exchange between the two countries.
According to Pellegrini, the Chinese side has already declared its readiness to receive such a delegation and to support dialogue between academic institutions. Cooperation in research and innovation could, according to the President, bring new opportunities not only for universities, but also for Slovak technology companies and startups.
Slovakia has long been developing economic relations with China, which ranks among its significant trading partners outside the European Union. Nevertheless, stronger support for Slovak exports and improved access for domestic companies to the Chinese market remain among the main challenges. President Peter Pellegrini therefore described the continuation of dialogue with Chinese representatives as an important step towards more balanced economic cooperation and the search for new opportunities in high-value-added sectors.
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