Chongqing-Dusan Bella, Slovak Ambassador to China, visited Chongqing International Communication Center and talked with iChongqing's reporter Alex on 22 July, during his attendance at the Fourth Western China International Fair for Investment and Trade (WCIFIT), which is an important platform to promote regional cooperation and foreign economic and trade exchanges in China.

Earlier the same day, he gave a keynote speech on the 2022 China (Chongqing) Cross-border E-commerce Fair. He believes that Cross-Border E-Commerce is the engine of economic growth for China, the European Union, and Slovakia, which is very useful in recovering economies in the post-pandemic period.

Working in the international affairs area, Mr. Dusan Bella also has a cross-border life, he graduated from the Faculty of Nuclear Science and Physical Engineering, Czech Technical University in Prague, and Business Administration at the Swinburne University of Technology in Melbourne. After several years’ experience in European policies, he was posted as Ambassador to South Korea (2009-2014, 2011-2014 cross-accreditation to DPRK). In 2017 he came to Beijing and was named the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to China (cross-accreditation to Mongolia). (On March 17, 2017, President Xi Jinping accepted his credential at the Great Hall of the People). He confessed that from being a scientist to a diplomat, research is his lifelong pursuit, which requires constant hardworking.

The Slovak Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe, the world's largest per-capita car producer. Before the pandemic, Slovakia manufactured a total of 1.1 million cars in 2019, representing 43% of its industrial output. The four major producers are Volkswagen, Peugeot, Citroen, KIA Motors, and Jaguar Land Rover. China and Slovakia have great prospects for cooperation in the automotive industry, especially in new energy vehicles. The structure of Chongqing’s industry is very similar to Slovakia. A lot of cooperation in the automotive industries, including electro-mobility, hydrogen energy, and even electronics, are highly expected.

In May 2004, Slovakia joined the European Union. It is in the Schengen Area, bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the southwest, and the Czech Republic to the northwest. Slovakia is also home to eight UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Before the pandemic crisis, there were five visa application centers in China. Slovakia has decided to expand ten more centers, including Chongqing. People who decide to go to Slovakia will not need to go to Beijing or Chengdu for their visa, they will be able to apply for a visa right in Chongqing.