China and Poland agreed on Monday to lift their ties to a comprehensive strategic partnership, showing a shared commitment to further growing their bilateral cooperation.

The upgrade, written into a joint communique, was announced after talks between visiting Chinese President Xi Jinping and his Polish counterpart, Andrzej Duda.

The two countries pledged to translate their political mutual trust into tangible and sustainable achievements in cooperation and make the upgrading of the relations beneficial to the people.

DOVETAILING DEVELOPMENT PLANS

Hailing the growing bilateral ties especially since the establishment of a strategic partnership in 2011, Xi called for China and Poland to dovetail their development plans when meeting with Duda.

The joint communique said China and Poland are ready to push forward the bilateral cooperation within the framework of China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative and Poland's sustainable development strategy.

Proposed by Xi in 2013, the Belt and Road Initiative refers to the Silk Road Economic Belt that links China with Europe through Central and Western Asia by inland routes, and the 21st-Century Maritime Silk Road connecting China with other Asian countries, Africa and Europe by sea routes. Poland, sitting in the heartland of Europe, is seen as having a potentially great role in the regional development initiative.

China and Poland will strengthen the synergy of their development plans, and boost mutually beneficial cooperation to promote peace, sustainable development and common prosperity, said the joint communique.

Xi said he is expecting projects like the China-Europe freight train service to lead the Belt and Road cooperation and the bilateral cooperation on inter-connectivity and industrial capacity.

Duda said his country stands ready to boost cooperation with China in such domains as economy and trade and people-to-people exchanges within the framework of the comprehensive strategic partnership and through China-Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) cooperation, the Belt and Road Initiative and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank.

During Xi's visit, China and Poland agreed to strive for early harvests of the Belt and Road cooperation, and pledged to increase cooperation in agriculture, finance, communication, environmental protection, high technology, aerospace and new energy, and encourage two-way investment.

PEOPLE-TO-PEOPLE EXCHANGES

The two countries with a long tradition of friendly interactions vowed to push forward cultural and people-to-people exchanges, so as to consolidate the development of the bilateral ties over the long term.

In the meeting with Duda, Xi said China and Poland should consolidate friendship and push forward people-to-people exchanges.

According to the joint communique, China and Poland agreed to expand their cooperation in areas such as culture, education and sports, boost exchanges in areas such as tourism, medical care and think tanks, and facilitate exchanges between the youths of the two countries.

The two sides also said they are willing to improve visa application procedures to better facilitate people-to-people exchanges.

During the visit, China's First Lady Peng Liyuan toured the Frederick Chopin Museum in Warsaw. After enjoying a classic piano piece composed by the towering Polish musician, Peng said the two countries, both boasting unique, rich and diverse art and cultural heritage, have vast room for cultural exchanges and cooperation.

POLAND AS GATEWAY TO EUROPE

Duda pledged that Poland will be a gateway to Europe for China, while the Chinese side spoke highly of Poland's role in promoting China-CEE and China-European Union (EU) relations.

Poland is an important country in the EU, and the biggest and most populous country and largest economy in the CEE region. Experts see a significant role for Poland in China-CEE and China-Europe relations.

Sitting in European heartland, the country has indeed been a transportation hub for China-Europe freight train service in recent years. Almost all of the regular China-Europe freight trains pass through Poland.

In the joint communique, China and Poland said they support early conclusion of the negotiations on an ambitious and extensive China-EU investment agreement, which covers market access and investment protection.

They pledged to enhance communication and coordination based on the principles of openness, inclusiveness, mutual benefit and win-win results, to jointly promote China-CEE cooperation. China and Poland believe that the China-CEE cooperation mechanism is an effective and significant platform and that it contributes to the development of the China-EU comprehensive strategic partnership, too, the document said.

The Chinese president arrived in Poland Sunday on the second stop of his three-nation Eurasia tour. He visited Serbia before Poland, and is to travel to Uzbekistan for a state visit and to attend a summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization in Tashkent.