Wen's visit to Poland has far-reaching significance

WARSAW - Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao's visit to Poland will play a major role in deepening the bilateral strategic partnership and promoting practical cooperation, the Chinese ambassador says.

Poland was one of the first countries to establish diplomatic ties with new China and the two peoples boasted a long history of friendship, Ambassador Sun Yuxi said in an interview with Xinhua ahead of Wen's April 25-27 visit.

Relations between China and Poland had withstood the tests of time and fluctuating international situations, and progressed smoothly over the past 62 years, he said.

Since the establishment of the friendly and cooperative partnership in 2004, the two countries had witnessed increasing exchanges of high-level visits and expanding cooperation and exchanges in various fields, he said, adding they had also kept sound communication and coordination on international and regional hot-spot issues.

At the end of 2011, China and Poland upgraded their relations to a strategic partnership, which opened a new chapter in the history of bilateral relations, he said.

Wen's visit to Poland was another major event in the bilateral ties and an important embodiment of the growing high-level exchanges between the two countries, the ambassador said.

Wen will be the first Chinese premier to visit Poland in 25 years and it is the first visit by a Chinese leader since Polish President Bronislaw Komorowski forged the strategic partnership during his visit to China in December.

Sun said the visit highlighted the great importance Chinese leaders attached to Chinese-Polish and Chinese-European relations and also revealed the strong desire of both China and Poland to enhance mutual political trust and strengthen mutually beneficial cooperation.

Bilateral cooperation and exchanges in the economic and cultural fields had yielded fruitful results in recent years, he said. In 2011, China-Poland bilateral trade volume reached a record 13 billion U.S. dollars, an increase of 16.7 percent from the previous year.

Poland is the first Central and Eastern European country to see its trade with China exceed 10 billion U.S. dollars. Poland has been China's largest trading partner and largest agricultural trading partner in Central and Eastern Europe for the past seven years.

Poland is also one of the first countries to sign a cultural cooperation agreement with China.

Sun said last year's Chinese Cultural Festival in Poland and Polish Cultural Festival in China helped the two peoples know and understand the culture and history of each other, and were well received.

China, the largest developing country, and Poland, which has rising influence in Central and Eastern Europe and the European Union (EU), shared many common interests in international affairs, he said.

The two countries should further enhance cooperation through dialogue and exchanges within the framework of the China-EU comprehensive strategic partnership, and maintain close communication and coordination in international organizations and on major international issues in a bid to develop China-Poland and China-EU relations, and build a harmonious world of lasting peace and common prosperity, the ambassador said.