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China's Xi Jinping meets Slovakia's Pellegrini in Beijing, pitches AI and robotics as EU trade tensions rise

Chinese President Xi Jinping held talks with Slovak President Peter Pellegrini at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on July 28, the first state visit to China by a Slovak head of state; Xi asked Slovakia to play a constructive role in advancing China-EU relations, and China offered cooperation on AI and robotics as the wider EU-China trade relationship faces tariff friction

Leaders·Trade· developing The Long Game·What They're Not Saying ·7 takes ·
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The split

The same story, as told by newsrooms in different countries. Their words, attributed and linked.

Hong Kong

South China Morning Post

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

Hong Kong paper tracking China's European outreach strategy; framed the visit as China using Slovakia, one of the EU's more China-friendly members, as a conduit to soften the bloc's toughening trade stanceread the original ↗

China

China Daily (Europe)

“China hopes Slovakia will play a constructive role in promoting the sound and steady growth of China-EU relations, President Xi Jinping said.”

Chinese state English-language daily, Beijing's stated framing of the meeting: Slovakia as a constructive force within the EU for China relationsread the original ↗

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Summary

Chinese President Xi Jinping held talks with Slovak President Peter Pellegrini at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on July 28, the first state visit to China by a Slovak head of state. Xi asked Slovakia to play a constructive role in China-EU relations, a formulation Beijing uses to signal it wants a sympathetic intermediary inside the bloc. China offered cooperation on AI and robotics as concrete deliverables. The visit came as the broader EU-China trade relationship faces escalating friction over tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles and machinery. Slovakia is among the EU's more China-friendly members and has avoided the hardest positions on the trade disputes.

Why it matters

The EU is not a monolith on China. Smaller member states that trade heavily with Beijing can block or dilute bloc-wide measures, and China's strategy of cultivating bilateral goodwill inside the EU is well documented. Slovakia under Prime Minister Robert Fico has taken positions on Russia and China that diverge from the EU mainstream, and Pellegrini, while constitutionally separate from Fico's government, represents a further channel of influence. The AI and robotics pitch is also notable: it offers commercially attractive bait to a smaller economy that does not have the defensive concerns about Chinese tech that France or Germany carry.

What to watch

  • Whether Slovakia shifts its posture in EU Council votes on China-related trade or security measures after the visit
  • Whether the AI and robotics cooperation announcements produce concrete deals or remain diplomatic boilerplate
  • The reaction from Brussels and other EU capitals to Pellegrini's Beijing trip

The briefing, by email