Polish Foreign Minister Witold Waszczykowski said that China's "Belt and Road" initiative will be the most promising platform for cooperation between China and Europe, and be a new measure of cooperation between Europe and Asia, at a lecture held by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences on Monday in Beijing.

Polish Foreign Minister Witold Waszczykowski makes a speech at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences on April 25, 2016. [Photo by He Shan]

His lecture is part of his first visit to China from April 23 to 27, as he took office last year.

In his speech titled "Where does the ‘Belt and Road' initiative meet Europe: Europe and China in the eyes of a Polish," Waszczykowski said that Poland is a vital stop on the roadmap of the "Belt and Road" initiative as the country sits at the crossroads of Europe and has thus lured many investors from China.

Poland has a very solid industrial foundation and a high-quality labor pool to tap, which has been drawing foreign investment increasingly in recent years.

The minister pointed out that Poland has the capacity to be engaged in more areas to promote strategic cooperation with China.

Poland together with the other 15 Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries make up one fourth of the 60 countries involved in the initiative which is viewed as a good opportunity to inject momentum into economic development.

Poland was the earliest CEE European country to join the China-initiated Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) as a founding member.

Since the establishment of the "16 +1 Cooperation" mechanism, CEE countries have emerged as a new force to boost Chinese and European economic cooperation.

China-Poland trade thrives

Poland has become the largest trading partner for China among the 16 CCE countries; China is the third largest source of imports for Poland and the largest trading partner for Poland in Asia.

Poland's capital city of Warsaw is now directly connected by rail to China's Suzhou, with another connection running from Lodz to Chengdu.

Zhou Hong, a research fellow at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said that many Chinese companies have invested in Poland, which has helped promote the local economy.

In Chengdu on Sunday, during the first leg of the minister's premier visit to China, he witnessed a freight train carrying a full load of goods from Europe reach Chengdu.

The Chengdu-Lodz freight railway began operations in 2013, connecting China with Europeon land. The trans-continental train transport connection will make Lodz, which sits in the heart of Europe, stand out as a promising logistics hub along the planned belt and road, and help China reach additional markets in Europe.

At the end of his speech, the minister happily touted his country's "Made in Poland" goods, saying that goods made in Poland have the same high quality as Germany's but are competitively cheaper.