Witold Waszczykowski，Foreign Minister of Poland, gave a written interview to People’s Daily before Chinese President Xi Jinping kicks off his state visit to Poland.

Following is the full text of the interview:

Question: This is the first time for Chinese President Xi Jinping to visit Poland. What are your expectations for this visit? What kind of the role do you think the visit will play to promote and deepen the relations between both sides?

Answer: We greatly appreciate the visit of the President of People’s Republic of China, Mr. Xi Jinping. We perceive it as a result of an excellent political climate that exists between Warsaw and Beijing as well as recognition of the importance of Poland in Europe as well as the role Poland can play within the Belt and Road initiative. The visit will contribute to advancing political and economic cooperation, opening a new chapter of our partnership. During the visit we will upgrade our strategic partnership to the next level, namely to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. By this we will open up new unprecedented opportunities for our cooperation.

Poland and China during last decades shared path of economic reforms and development. We strongly believe that the shared goal of economic development and improving standards of lives is a strong reason for further strengthening the ties between our countries. The accompanying business delegation, which consists of Chinese market leaders, creates an opportunity to transform the political climate into contracts – a measurable economic value.

Question: What do you think of the current and future bilateral relations?

Answer: Over the last few years we have observed frequent mutual visits by the officials of both countries that led to establishment of the strategic partnership, which is for us of the greatest importance. During the last visit of President of Poland Andrzej Duda to China, a memorandum between Poland and China supporting the initiative Belt and Road was signed, which confirms the dedication of our two countries to mutual cooperation. The relations are based on trust, understanding and promoting common values.

The political cooperation during recent years has been dynamically accelerating. With the introduction of Belt and Road initiative we see the opportunity to implement the provisions of strategic partnership. There are already three cargo connections between Poland and China, connecting the most vibrant commercial cities in both countries. We see the chance for further Chinese-Polish cooperation especially in infrastructure, transportation and energy sectors. The Sinohydro success in a tender to build Odra Water Hub or CEE Equity Partners investment in Polish Energy Partners are just few examples of fruitful cooperation.

China is a big country, the country of Confucius and economic miracle that happened over last three decades. Poland on the other side, as the biggest country of Central-Eastern Europe has a lot to offer too. We have a stable and rapidly developing economy based on highly educated youth, aspiring entrepreneurs that provide high quality goods and services, and we in the heart of Europe. If we connect that to the economy of China, the development potential is unlimited.

Question: President Xi implements the initiatives to build the strategy “One belt, One Road”. What’s the significance of the strategy for the development of Poland and cooperation with China?

Answer: We follow with curiosity each of the Chinese initiatives, especially those with international outreach. The Belt and Road initiative has the potential of bringing together the countries from different continents. Poland joined the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank as the only country from the Central and Eastern Europe to underline our interest in taking fully part in the project.

The potential of the project is not to be underestimated. Through building infrastructure and facilitating trade an opportunity is created for the participating countries to develop their economies. We believe that our engagement can be to benefit of all. We hope to attract investors to Poland, as we are the most attractive country for investors in CEE region (which is 4th most attractive region globally, right after China itself). Chinese investors presence is increasing, yet we are waiting for greater engagement, especially in large and courageous investment projects.

On the other hand we want to increase our trade volume and make our trade more balanced. There are many products in Poland that are of high quality. The Chinese customers are slowly recognizing that Made in Poland does not differ from other European products. Just to name one example, the citizens are paying more and more attention to the nutrition. Polish agricultural products, especially diary and meat are produced in ecological way, providing the highest possible quality. The Belt and Road initiative can help to export these goods to China by creating multimodal logistics and distributions centers.

Question: Poland is an important participant of Cooperation between China and Central and Eastern European Countries and has a series of cooperation plan with China; Does Poland has any new plan to strengthen economic and trade cooperation with China since you took office on November 2015? In which areas does Poland hope to strength further cooperation with China?

Answer: Poland joins China and other countries in efforts to finance the ambitious development plan of the Belt and Road initiative, including through our membership in AIIB. We also continue the “16 + 1” model of cooperation between China and CEE, our strategic partnership and strengthening the ties on local government levels. 

We also observe that both China and Poland are pursuing ambitious economic policies. What is more, a number of postulates defined in the XIII Economic Plan in China are converging with the Responsible Development Plan in Poland. We believe that many of the goals can be achieved through cooperation. Both countries put emphasis on: innovations through Research and Development, sustainable development, green energy. I would like to offer a simple example: Chinese investors are interested in financing energy projects in Poland and Polish entrepreneurs can help innovate the coal mines in China by offering clean thermal decomposition of coal technology. The synergy can be achieved on various levels to the mutual benefit. That is what we strive in our relations with China!