Xi Jinping to sign raft of deals during trip to Poland as China seeks closer economic ties with eastern Europe
President Xi Jinping is expected to sign a series of deals in Poland as China tries to boost economic ties with central and eastern Europe.
Xi – who was expected to arrive in the country on Sunday – is due to meet Polish leaders and attend several events with them including a signing ceremony for cooperation treaties, an international forum on the Silk Road Economic Zone and the opening ceremony of a China-Poland trade forum.
The leaders will also view freight trains that will ply a route between China and Europe, Xinhua reported.
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Senior Chinese government officials have previously said that a series of agreements, including on banking and aviation, would be signed during the trip.
Cooperation on nuclear power and China’s “One Belt, One Road” initiative to boost its economic and trade ties overseas will also be discussed.
Xi wrote in an article published by the Polish newspaper Rzeczpospolita last week that China wanted greater cooperation with Poland and the rest of Europe.
“Central and eastern Europe as a sub-region boasts the greatest potential for growth in all of Europe ... Poland is at the heartland of Europe,” wrote Xi.
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He added that “China is ready to join Poland’s re-industrialisation drive through cooperation on production capacity”.
Xi was referring to China’s policy of developing factories and infrastructure projects overseas to deal with its massive industrial overcapacity in sectors such as steel.
Poland is the second leg of Xi’s three-nation trip. A total of 22 agreements on finance and infrastructure were signed during his visit to Serbia, which ended on Saturday.
After Poland, Xi will head to Uzbekistan and attend a meeting of the council of heads of state of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation on Thursday and Friday.
