Poland ready for historical Xi visit

Heads of press organizations from Poland said on Tuesday that the public has shown growing interests about China and the upcoming state visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping, expecting it to bring great impact on social and economic development of both countries.

Representatives of Polish newspapers, radio and TV stations made the remarks at the China-Poland Media Dialogue hosted by China's State Council Information Office in Warsaw, capital of Poland. Fifteen heads of Chinese and Polish news organizations participated in the forum.

Xi will pay state visits to Serbia, Poland and Uzbekistan from June 17 to 22, China's Foreign Ministry announced on Monday. It will be Xi's first state visit to Poland, which is one of the first countries to establish diplomatic relations with China after the founding of the PRC in 1949.

"We are preparing to produce videos on China-related issues to meet people's growing interests about this oriental country," said Rafal Tomanski, deputy editor-in-chief for Asia and Pacific of Polish national daily newspaper Rzeczpospolita.

He said Xi's visit will be a great opportunity for people from the two countries to learn more about each other, and the paper plans to produce a 20-page special edition to cover Xi's activities in Poland.

Guo Weimin, vice-minister of the State Council Information Office, said wide media coverage on Xi's upcoming visit to Poland will help people from the two countries and the world better understand the significance of the visit.

He said Xi is expected to elaborate the relationship between China and Poland during his visit and introduce China's foreign policies. The two countries are also expected to sign a series of agreements.

Guo also suggested the media from both countries further strengthen cooperation.

"Media exchange is an important part of bilateral relations," he said. "The State Council Information Office would like to support the establishment of a regular exchange platform between media organizations from China and Poland."

Qu Yingpu, deputy editor-in-chief of China Daily, China's national English newspaper, said China Daily seeks in-depth cooperation with the Polish media, especially in establishing a content sharing mechanism on new media so that people can easily learn about the current affairs of both countries without delays.

Artur Dmochowski, president of Polish Press Agency, said Xi's visit to Poland is extremely important as China's place in the world is more by more important.

"The visit will further enhance the political and economic ties between the two counties," he said.

Dmochowski, who had recently visited Beijing and Chengdu, said he sees the Belt and Road initiative proposed by Xi in 2013 has been picking up momentum.