Xi calls for joint development effort

President's article in Polish newspaper says China, Europe should deepen common interests

China and Europe should closely match each other's development strategy and deepen joint interests, President Xi Jinping wrote on the eve of his visits to Serbia and Poland.

"Now both China and Europe are pushing forward structural reform," Xi wrote in an article published in the major Polish newspaper Rzeczpospolita on Friday.

"As two major powers, major markets and major civilizations of the world, China and Europe can closely match each other's development strategies, deepen joint interests, promote joint growth and contribute to world peace and development," he wrote.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said on Monday that Xi will pay state visits to Serbia, Poland and Uzbekistan from June 17 to 22. He will also attend the Meeting of the Council of the Heads of the Member States of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization to be held in Tashkent, the capital of Uzbekistan, from June 23 to 24.

Wang Yiwei, a professor at the School of International Studies at Renmin University of China, said Xi's visit will bring more outcomes for the China-proposed Belt and Road projects, given that all the three countries are located on the key points of the ancient Silk Road.

The Belt and RoadInitiative, proposed by Xi in 2013, is aimed at building a trade and infrastructure network connecting Asia with Europe and Africa along the ancient trade routes. Considering its geographic importance, Central and Eastern Europe marks an essential part in China's Belt and Road Initiative, as a quarter of the countries along the routes are located in the region.

"Countries in Central and Eastern Europe including Poland are keen to develop ties with China to attract more Chinese investment," Wang said.

Poland is China's largest trading partner in the Central and Eastern Europe region, while China is Poland's third-largest supplier of imports. Trade between the two countries reached $17.2 billion in 2014.