Honorable Mr. Miro Cerar, Prime Minister of the Republic of Slovenia,

Honorable Mr. Mitja Bervar, President of the National Council of the Republic of Slovenia,

Honorable Mr. Bojan Srot, Mayor of Celje,

Honorable Mr. Marjan Mačkošek, Chairman of Chamber of Commerce in the Republic of Slovenia

Honorable Ms.Breda Obrez, CEO of MOS Fair

Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen,

Good morning!

It gives me great pleasure to attend the opening ceremony of the48th International Trade and Business Fair & 2015 Premium Brands China. On behalf of the Embassy of the People's Republic of China in the Republic of Slovenia, I wish to extend my warm congratulations on the opening of the exhibition.

This year marks the 66th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China. Over the past 66 years, the Chinese social productivity, comprehensive national strength and people’s living standards have been making historic strides,hence China has become the second largest economy in the world. Since this year, China has undergone the stock market fluctuation and further reform of exchange rate. China’s economy is facing downward pressure, but still healthy, with GDP growth of 7% in the first half of the year. The main index is stabilizing and there is still support for the sustainable development in the future. China will steadfastly implement the policy of reform and opening to the outside world, giving new impetus to the recovery of world economy and bringing new opportunities to the development of other countries.

In recent years, the Chinese government has proposed the major initiatives of "one belt and one road" and "16 + 1 cooperation", which provides broader prospects for the development of economic cooperation between China and 16 countries including Slovenia. In this context, remarkable progress has been made in the bilateral economic cooperation between China and Slovenia. According to Chinese statistics, in 2014, the bilateral trade volume amounted to $ 2.32 billion, increased by 8.8% year on year. This year from January to May, the bilateral trade volume amounted to $ 809 million, increased by 12.78% year on year. Slovenia is China’s biggest business partner in the Balkans. TAM-Durabus, the first manufacturing enterprise that China invested in Slovenia, has already provided about 200 jobs and accumulated tax contribution of more than 4 million euros. It also plans to produce 150 buses this year. In addition, Huawei, ZTE and other Chinese companies are also broadening and deepening cooperation with Slovenian partners in the fields of telecommunications, real estate, tourism, mass media and energy.

The International Trade and Business Fair is one of the largest and most influential fairs in Slovenia. This year’s fair features the 2015 Premium Brands China with participants from nearly 60 Chinese companies from the fields of building materials, electronics, chemicals, clothing, household consumer goods, and so on. This is the first time the Chinese theme exhibition is held in Slovenia, which indicates a new landmark in bilateral cooperation and also a new starting point for bilateral cooperation. We hope more and more Chinese companies will participate in this fair in the future, so that it could become an important platform to promote bilateral economic and trade cooperation between China and Slovenia.

In conclusion, I wish this fair a great success.

Thank you!