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’17+1’ summit: Polish president urges China to open its market post-pandemic

09.02.2021 13:30
Poland's President Andrzej Duda on Tuesday urged China to more widely open its market to goods from Central and Eastern Europe as economies strive to recover from the coronavirus pandemic.
Polish President Andrzej Duda takes part in the virtual Summit of Leaders of Central and Eastern European Countries and China on Tuesday.
Polish President Andrzej Duda takes part in the virtual Summit of Leaders of Central and Eastern European Countries and China on Tuesday.Photo: Jakub Szymczuk/KPRP

Andrzej Duda made the call as he joined regional leaders for a virtual summit with China’s Xi Jinping to discuss ways of deepening business ties.

Like most other countries in its region, Poland sees the need for a wider opening of the Chinese market to goods from this part of Europe, Duda told the 9th Summit of Leaders of Central and Eastern European Countries and China, as quoted by Poland's PAP news agency.

Duda also said that his country expected the authorities in Beijing to take further steps in lifting administrative restrictions on imported goods, especially foodstuffs and farm produce, the PAP news agency reported.

Duda told Tuesday's online summit that Poland and its regional peers wanted their cooperation with China to produce "more tangible and mutually beneficial results ... primarily in the form of increased imports by China of goods and services from Central and Eastern Europe and a greater inflow of Chinese greenfield investment."

Due to the coronavirus pandemic, Tuesday's summit was held in the form of a videoconference.

The event aimed to provide a platform for cooperation between 17 Central and Eastern European countries and China, according to officials.

Originally, the meeting was due to be held in Beijing last April, but it was postponed because of the pandemic.

In addition to Poland and China, the so-called "17+1" group brings together Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Albania, North Macedonia and Greece.

(gs/pk)

Source: IAR