At the meeting, the Slovenian foreign minister expressed satisfaction with the "excellent bilateral relations between Slovenia and China, which are being strengthened ever since diplomatic ties were established in 1992", the foreign ministry said in a press release.

Erjavec and Liu also agreed that political dialogue needed to be enhanced in the strained international circumstances.

State Secretary Darja Bavdaž Kuret, who is hosting the Chinese official, meanwhile reviewed with Liu the state of bilateral relations between Slovenia and China and emphasised the need to continue political dialogue at the highest level.

Bavdaž Kuret and Liu shared a view that the bilateral relations were excellent, while adding that there were opportunities to upgrade them in numerous areas, in particular in business.

With Slovenia to host the first high-level meeting of the 16+1 initiative in the field of forestry in May, the pair paid particular attention to cooperation as part of the China and Central and European Countries Initiative (16+1).