The expo, which opened on Tuesday, features presentations by 11 Slovenian companies, and was attended by Minister of Economic Development and Technology Zdravko Počivalšek.

The CIIE is being held for the second time this year, and is considered a prestigious business event, intended for presentations of both consumer products and high technology. With both national and winter pavilions and with a permanent exhibition of products from Slovenian companies, Slovenia presented itself to the Chinese business world as a land of high technology and innovative products and services, and as an excellent partner for the preparations for the Winter Olympics, which will be hosted in 2022 by the Chinese capital, where the Summer Olympics were held in 2008. The opening of this year’s event will also be attended by Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Slovenia would like to level its trade deficit with China, and sees an opportunity to increase trade in niche industries and technologies that are difficult for Chinese manufacturers to copy. At the event, the Slovenian delegation presented several Slovenian technological surpluses, and in light of the upcoming Olympic Games in Beijing in 2022 also highlighted Slovenian know-how and Slovenian companies that operate in the winter sports industry.

The design of the Slovenian national pavilion at the Shanghai expo is tied to the concept of the pavilion that Slovenia will be unveiling at the upcoming World Expo in Dubai. The country wants to connect the two events visually and thereby increase Slovenia’s recognition, and to arouse interest at CIIE 2019 in Slovenia’s presentation in the United Arab Emirates next year.