Fico: Slovaks to be Allowed to Travel to China for Two Weeks Vise-free

Beijing/Bratislava, November 1 (TASR) - Slovaks will be able to travel to and stay in China without any visa for a period of up to 15 days and Slovakia is prepared to introduce direct flight links between Bratislava and Beijing to facilitate such travels, Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico (Smer-SD), who's on an official visit of China together with ministers and entrepreneurs, declared on Friday. In his video posted on a social network, Fico announced that he agreed with Chinese Prime Minister Li Qiang to forge a strategic partnership aimed at expanding cooperation between the two governments and business sectors. Mostly, the talks revolved around energy and infrastructure projects, with Fico pointing to two large ongoing Chinese investments in Slovakia: the construction of a Volvo facility in eastern Slovakia and preparatory works to build a battery-producing facility for electric cars in the Nitra region. In addition, Fico opened a business forum attended by hundreds of Slovak and Chinese businesses. One of the crucial issues also discussed was the conflict in Ukraine, in which China can play an instrumental role in Fico's view. The Slovak Prime Minister is slated to meet the head of the Chinese Parliament and Chinese President. He claimed that at these talks the Slovak delegations wants to address the fomenting of closer economic ties between the two countries as well as the war in Ukraine. mf/mcs