Chinese President Xi Jinping's state visit to Poland is expected to boost the traditional friendship between the two countries as Poland eyes being the link between China and Europe, analysts said.

Xi arrived in Warsaw, Poland on Sunday and started his three-day visit in the country, which is an important hub in China's Belt and Road initiative as well as the second leg of Xi's three-nation visit.

Xi will meet with Polish leaders, and together they will attend a signing ceremony of agreements, an international forum on the Silk Road Economic Zone, the opening ceremony of a China-Poland trade forum, and welcome the arrival of freight trains that will run between China and Europe, the Xinhua News Agency reported on Saturday.

On Friday, leading Polish newspaper Rzeczpospolita published an article Xi wrote entitled "Setting Sail for Full-Speed Progress of China-Poland Friendship," ahead of his visit to the European country.

"Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) as a sub-region boasts the greatest potential for growth in all of Europe. China and Central and Eastern European countries (CEECs) share a profound traditional friendship, sincere desire for cooperation and strong economic complementarity," said Xi.

"We want to be China's central partner in Central Europe," Polish Presidential Minister Krzysztof Szczerski said, according to the Polish president's official website.

"Poland is not a terminal of the Belt and Road initiative; instead, it is the bridgehead that plays the role of geographic and transformation center between China and Europe," Zhang Shengjun, an international politics professor at Beijing Normal University, told the Global Times on Sunday.

"Among CEECs, Poland has the largest population and economy, and since its economic transition in 1990, its economy has been improving, even during the global financial crisis in 2009," Kong Tianping, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times on Sunday.

"Poland and other CEE nations have not only been performing well and developing fast since joining the EU, but have also been seeking more opportunities with countries outside Europe, since they have been constrained by EU regulations," Zhang said, adding that CEE economies are more active than their Western European counterparts.

Meanwhile, with high-quality but cheaper labor, as well as supportive policies, Poland has become Europe's factory, Kong said.

"The Polish government has always been pragmatic toward China and expects to have more regional cooperation with China, such as helping Polish companies enter the Chinese market," said Kong.

Xi said that in recent years, China and Poland have achieved stable economic growth and remained each other's biggest trading partner in their respective regions for years.

In 2015, two-way trade reached $17.09 billion.

Mutual investments grew steadily. And the two sides continued to expand and enhance cooperation in mining, infrastructure, transportation and logistics, finance, aerospace, science and technology and agriculture.

Historic ties

"Sino-Polish ties are at their historic best," Chinese Ambassador to Poland Xu Jian said in Warsaw on Tuesday, chinanews.com reported on Wednesday.

After the Soviet Union's disintegration, Poland relied more on the West. However, Poland's foreign policy has evolved over the years, and Sino-Polish relations are entering their best time in history, according to Zhang.

Xu's views were also echoed by Radek Pyffel, president of the Poland Asia Research Center, who said that "the Polish government is looking forward to stronger cooperation with China, and we consider President Xi Jinping's visit a significant opportunity for Poland's development."

Pyffel told the Global Times on Sunday that Poland's main exports are copper, food and amber, but hopefully Xi's visit could optimize the trade structure and enhance Poland's exports so that the Poles would feel the visit's impact.

"Cooperation with Poland could also be considered a key point for China, because this could lead to the development of cooperation with Europe," Zhang said.

"China and Poland have neither geopolitical conflict nor historical entanglements, so there is no barrier to further breakthroughs in Sino-Polish relations," Zhang noted.

"Future cooperation between China and Poland would be comprehensive, including more frequent exchange visits among top officials, as well as cooperation in trade, infrastructure, energy and technology," Kong said.