China is a large country, whereas Slovakia is a small country. This is something that Slovakia's Ambassador to China Zigmund Bertok repeatedly mentioned in an exclusive interview with Beijing Review reporter Yan Wei shortly after Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico's official visit to China. Despite the sharp contrast in their geographical size, the two countries are enjoying a fruitful cooperation that is, in the words of the ambassador, "appropriate for their positions." The following are excerpts of the interview:

Beijing Review: How do you evaluate Prime Minister Robert Fico's visit to China from February 5-9? What were the focuses and major achievements of this visit?

Zigmund Bertok: Prime Minister Fico's visit here was very important for the Slovak side and Slovak-Chinese relations. It came 13 years after the last visit paid by a Slovak prime minister to China. Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao visited Slovakia in December 2005. It was the first official visit by a Chinese prime minister to Slovakia after the separation of the former Czechoslovakia in 1993. For us, Prime Minister Fico's visit was a very important milestone in our bilateral relations. We highly appreciate the possibility to talk at the highest level because he met his counterpart Premier Wen Jiabao and speaker of the parliament Wu Bangguo (Wu's official title is chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress).

The focus of the visit was mainly to promote economic relations between Slovakia and China. Two governmental agreements were signed during the visit. One was about cooperation between the ministries of agriculture. The second was about cooperation in the field of education for the years 2007 to 2010. Education is one of the most highly appreciated priorities of the cooperation on both sides. Here in Beijing, the Slovak language is taught in the Beijing Foreign Studies University. It is the only place in Asia where the language is studied.

How do you define current China-Slovakia relations in the economic, political and social spheres?

It's important to note that Slovakia is a successor state of Czechoslovakia. The former Czechoslovakia was among the first countries to recognize the People's Republic of China. Now we have had 57 years of diplomatic relations with China. This is the political basis for the good cooperation between our two countries. China was among the first countries in the world to recognize Slovakia in 1993 as an independent country. It was the first Asian country to open an embassy in Bratislava.

There are good relations at the presidential level. Then President of the Slovak Republic Rudolf Schuster visited China in 2003. The presidents of the two countries signed a political memorandum of understanding (MOU) on the good relationship between the two countries. There are very good relations between the two ministries of foreign affairs. They have many political dialogues, political consultations and special MOUs.