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Carol Yang

Laura Zhou

China and Slovakia should explore cooperation in clean energy, robotics and artificial intelligence, as the European nation navigates growing trade tensions between Beijing and the EU.
That was the message Chinese President Xi Jinping gave to Peter Pellegrini in talks on Tuesday morning as part of the Slovak president’s three-day visit to China, the first by the country’s head of state in 16 years.
Slovakia has relatively warm relations with China, as one of the few EU and Nato members to have established a strategic partnership with Beijing in recent years. Ties were raised to that level during Prime Minister Robert Fico’s visit to Beijing in November 2024.
Pellegrini’s trip comes as Beijing and Brussels edge towards a trade war and relations are strained by China’s perceived support for Russia in the Ukraine war.


Meanwhile, cracks in the transatlantic relationship under the second Trump administration – particularly the president’s “America first” trade policies – have pushed some European nations to recalibrate their relations with China.
Xi said China had developed its ties with the European Union with “sincerity and goodwill” and had sought to address challenges in the relationship through “consultation on an equal footing” and by “seeking common ground while narrowing differences”, according to state news agency Xinhua.
He also said that Slovakia and China should “foster new highlights of cooperation” in clean energy, the digital economy, robotics and artificial intelligence.
According to the Slovak president’s office, Pellegrini praised Chinese technology, saying the country “sets world trends, from space research to robotics”.
He added that it would be the “greatest misfortune” if the EU responded to tensions with China with a trade war.
China-EU relations are marked by growing friction, particularly over the Asian giant’s large and growing trade surplus, with many in the bloc worried that Beijing’s dominance in several key industries could lead to deindustrialisation in Europe. While the EU argues that this surplus is due to unfair trade practices, Beijing insists that it is the result of legitimate competitive advantages.
However, Slovakia has maintained a stable China policy and avoided taking sides in the dispute, according to Ding Chun, director of the Centre for European Studies at Fudan University in Shanghai.
“It can act as a stabilising force or a buffer in the tense and volatile China-EU relationship,” Ding said.
“[The trip also] shows Slovakia’s balancing strategy against the relatively negative judgment towards, and perceptions of, China inside the European Union.”
The two countries’ robust economic cooperation provided a solid foundation for their political relationship, said Jiang Feng, professor and council chairman of the Shanghai International Studies University.


Central European countries such as Hungary and Slovakia were trying to maintain space for their own diplomacy while Brussels was eyeing strategic autonomy, he said.
“Because these nations are newer EU member states, their approach stands out amid today’s highly complex EU-Russia and EU-China relations,” Jiang said.
“Against the broader backdrop of Europe’s push for strategic autonomy, these Central European countries place an even greater emphasis on their own national strategic autonomy, a dynamic that serves as a vital balancing force for Europe’s overall foreign policy.”
Dubbed “Europe’s Detroit”, Slovakia reportedly has the highest car output per capita globally and was one of the handful of EU member states that opposed the bloc’s tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles.
The country has been working to build up its EV sector to maintain its competitive edge in the European car industry.
Crucial to this transition is a €1.2 billion (US$1.3 billion) joint investment by China’s Gotion High-Tech and its Slovak partner InoBat to build a plant to make batteries for electric cars. The start of construction was announced in 2025, with full-scale production scheduled to begin in 2027.




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Bratislava has maintained relatively warm ties with Beijing even as the bloc has toughened its stance on trade


Bratislava has maintained relatively warm ties with Beijing even as the bloc has toughened its stance on trade.


China woos Slovakia with AI, robotics pitch as EU trade friction mounts

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Bratislava has maintained relatively warm ties with Beijing even as the bloc has toughened its stance on trade

Bratislava has maintained relatively warm ties with Beijing even as the bloc has toughened its stance on trade