On December 14, 2019 local time, State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi held talks with Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Miro Cerar of Slovenia in Ljubljana.

Wang Yi expressed, though different in size, history and culture, both China and Slovenia abide by the basic norms of international relations, and respect and understand each other. On this basis, our two countries enjoy mutual trust and support, and an increasingly mature bilateral relationship, which is worth of cherishing and maintaining by both of us. China-Slovenia relations face new and important opportunities as a series of significant high-level exchanges and diplomatic agendas will be held next year, and Slovenia will hold the rotating presidency of the European Union (EU) in 2021. Both sides should prioritize our cooperation in the four areas, namely scientific and technological innovation, high-end manufacturing, medicine and healthcare and winter sports, as well as push for infrastructure connectivity in ports and railways, so as to open up new prospects for bilateral relations. It is hoped that the Slovenian side will continue to play an active part in facilitating China-EU cooperation and the "17+1 cooperation" to ensure that China-Slovenia relations and China-EU relations reinforce each other.

Miro Cerar agreed with Wang Yi's remarks and suggestions on bilateral relations. He said, China is an important major country with great influence in the world, and an important cooperation partner of Slovenia and the EU. People of both countries share a profound friendship, solid political mutual trust, and sustained and steady growth of two-way trade. The Slovenian side attaches great importance to developing its relations with China, and hopes to, together with the Chinese side, respect each other, seek common ground while shelving differences, and carry out more active dialogues and cooperation at bilateral level, in the EU and between Central and Eastern European Countries and China. The Slovenian side highly values the Belt and Road Initiative, and hopes to strengthen cooperation in infrastructure construction such as natural deepwater ports and railways within this framework, and promote cooperation in areas including scientific and technological innovation, artificial intelligence, climate change and sustainable development. The Slovenian side supports the Chinese side in successfully holding the 2022 Winter Olympics, and is willing to reinforce exchanges and cooperation in sports with the Chinese side. The Slovenian side is ready to continue to play an active role in propelling EU-China relations and the "17+1 cooperation".