China’s top legislator meets Slovenian National Council president

China’s top legislator Zhao Leji met with Marko Lotric, president of the National Council of Slovenia, in Beijing on Monday.

At the meeting, Zhao, chairman of China’s National People’s Congress Standing Committee, noted that since the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries 33 years ago, China and Slovenia have always followed the principles of equality, mutual respect, mutual trust, mutual benefit and win-win cooperation.

China-Slovenia relations are currently maintaining steady and sound development with close exchanges at all levels, he said.

Zhao said China is ready to work with Slovenia to continue to be each other’s trustworthy friend and partner, deepen political mutual trust and practical cooperation, and promote bilateral relations to a higher level.

The National People’s Congress of China is willing to deepen exchanges at all levels between the legislative bodies of the two countries, enhance exchanges of experience in governance, and create a favorable legal environment for cooperation between the two countries, he said.

Zhao briefed on the fourth plenary session of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China held in Beijing last month.

For his part, Lotric said that Slovenia and China have been upholding mutual respect, solidarity and cooperation, and deepening political mutual trust.

Slovenia stays committed to the one-China principle and highly appreciates the global initiatives China has put forward, Lotric said, adding that his country is ready to enhance exchanges and cooperation with China in various fields, engage in Belt and Road cooperation, and jointly uphold international justice and fairness.

The 15th World Socialism Forum opened in Beijing on Monday, bringing together nearly 90 delegates from 35 countries, including leaders of foreign communist parties, prominent Marxist scholars, and socialist thinkers, to explore development paths and global governance.

The two-day event is being hosted by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

Under the theme “At the Crossroads of World History: The Choice of All Nations,” participants discussed a wide range of topics, from Chinese modernization and the rise of the Global South, to reforming global governance, upholding fairness and justice, and safeguarding the postwar international order.

Hasan Tarique Chowdhury, general secretary of Bangladesh Afro Asian People’s Solidarity Organization, said China’s modernization experience and its model of socialism with Chinese characteristics set ambitious goals for other nations to learn from.

“So this is the sample for the other nations who want to develop socialism in their own countries on the basis of shared development, on the basis of global cooperation, denying the theory of unipolarity and accepting the theory of multipolarity,” he said.

“Now the Western ideas of liberal capitalist development cannot provide good answers to the questions of the 21st century. So that’s why it’s very important to pay more attention to the ideas which are being developed by China,” said Alexander V. Lomanov, deputy director and chief researcher at Russian Academy of Sciences.

Other delegates said the spirit of cooperation, equality, and a desire for shared development embodied at the forum will be vital in shaping a more just and peaceful global order.