After his 2007 visit of China, Slovakia’s then Prime Minister Fico returned with a notion of China becoming a new source of investment and a new market for Slovak exports. Fico’s dreams of doing business with China have echoed throughout Slovak policy circles ever since.

Much of the Slovak desire to do business with China has since been channelled through the 16+1 platform. The platform has become arguably the most important tool for Slovakia in terms of China policy. As the government’s wish to build stronger economic ties with Beijing depends for the most part on the platform, it has become a kind of ritual to announce bombastic cooperation plans after every summit with the Chinese premier.

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