On September 10, 2026, the Chinese Embassy in Slovenia published an article on Večer, responding to one-sided views such as “China’s domestic demand remains weak” and “Chinese overcapacity flooding world markets”, and aiming to promote a better understanding of China’s economic and industrial development. The full article reads as follows:

Dear Editor,

First of all, we appreciate your newspaper’s attention to China’s economic and industrial development. Relevant reports help the Slovenian public gain a better understanding of China. Regarding the statements about China’s “overcapacity” in the article, we would like to share the following views.

The article claims that “domestic demand in China is weak” and “overcapacity in Chinese industry is mounting pressure on Europe”. In fact, China is not only a major manufacturing country but also a major consumer market. Between 2013 and 2024, China’s domestic demand contributed an average of 93.1% to its economic growth. Calculated by the World Bank’s purchasing power parity, China’s total retail sales of consumer goods in 2025 were equivalent to 1.7 times that of the United States, making China the world’s largest consumer goods market.

For more than a decade, China has served as a key engine of global economic growth, contributing around 30% to world economic expansion. China pursues innovation with an open mind. Its fast-growing innovative enterprises have delivered returns several times or even dozens of times higher to investors worldwide. In terms of the distribution of trade benefits, “China records the trade surplus while benefits accrue to all parties”. In 2025, foreign-invested enterprises accounted for 27% of China’s exports and 16% of its trade surplus, with their surplus and profit growth outpacing those of domestic firms. It is noted that as much as 40% of raw materials used in Slovenia’s export products come from China, reflecting close economic and trade ties between the two countries.

The rapid development of China’s industries also enables the global supply of a rich array of high-quality, high-efficiency and cost-effective products. Estimates by the European Central Bank (ECB) show that if the EU increases imports from China by 10% in 2026, overall import prices will drop by 1.6%. From daily consumer goods and home appliances to new energy vehicles and photovoltaic modules, Chinese goods, boasting sound quality and competitive prices, effectively reduce people’s living costs, improve quality of life and ease global inflation pressures across countries.

Against the backdrop of globalization, economies worldwide are deeply intertwined and industries closely integrated. It serves the common interests of all countries to expand the global development “pie” through mutually beneficial and pragmatic industrial and supply chain cooperation. Trade protectionism will not help resolve economic woes; instead, it will disrupt the security and stability of global industrial and supply chains and industrial cooperation, push up global inflation, and harm the vital interests of enterprises and consumers in all nations. China sincerely looks forward to strengthened international cooperation in emerging fields such as sci-tech innovation, green and low-carbon development and the digital economy. By sharing the dividends of scientific and technological progress, countries can break growth bottlenecks and foster new drivers and inject fresh vitality into sustained global economic recovery.

The above is our interpretation of China’s economic and industrial development. We hope it will help Slovenian friends gain an in-depth understanding of China.

Chinese Embassy in Slovenia