April the 20th, 2023 – Eight Chinese companies have their eyes peeled on the lookout for Croatian business opportunities as the country’s economic recovery proves more rapid than anticipated.
As Poslovni Dnevnik/Marija Brnic writes, China is on the rise once again and is, as stated above, recovering more rapidly than expected, and at the same time it is again in a proactive campaign to break into all kinds of foreign markets. As such, a new delegation will arrive in the Republic of Croatia for the Chinese Business Forum next week.
New B2B talks between Chinese and Croatian businessmen will be held under the scope of the Croatian Chamber of Commerce (HGK), and this time, representatives of companies from the Shaanxi province, from the north-east of China, the place from which the historic Silk Road ran, are coming in search of partners.
The delegation consists of eight Chinese companies that are interested in cooperation in the field of the metal industry, mechanical engineering, parts for shipbuilding, materials for the furniture industry, solar energy, transport and trade. According to the HGK announcement on the matter, the delegation will be led by Zhai Beiqin, Deputy Director General of the Shaanxi Commerce Bureau.
Certain companies have prepared a list of companies in the Croatian business world in advance with which they want to meet and establish cooperation, for example; the company Ambohr Electric wants to export its ozone and oxygen generators to Croatia, and among others, they are interested in the distribution business of a company that deals with leading a healthy life – El kolibri.
The last such meeting of businessmen took place half a year ago, when a delegation of about fifteen Chinese companies arrived in the City of Zagreb for talks with those in the Croatian business world. The interest of Chinese companies in Croatia has been increasing since back in 2013, more precisely since joining the EU, but the coronavirus pandemic significantly slowed down activities and direct meetings.
However, imports into Croatia from China also grew strongly last year, in contrast to the export of Croatian goods to that large market, while this year started with a large decrease in the value of trade in both directions.
Namely, 85.5 million euros worth of goods were exported last year, which is a result worse by 3.7 percent than back in 2021, while imports grew strongly, by as much as 34 percent, to the sum of 1.369 billion euros. In the first month of 2023, however, exports fell by 36 percent on the annual level, and imports by 23 percent.
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