China is an important trade market for Poland, the value of which is estimated in billions of euros. Invited experts and economists evaluated the cooperation and prospects of Polish-Chinese relations during the Congress in Katowice. Director of Trade Department at SM MLEKPOL in Grajewo, Małgorzata Cebelińska talked about her experience in building relationships and commercial cooperation with Chinese partners.

It was already the 9th edition of Poland-China economic cooperation forum held as part of the European Economic Congress in Katowice. The guests and experts invited were, among others, Grzegorz Kołodko, economist professor, Rafał Milczarski President of LOT Polish Airlines, Marcin Piątkowski, representative of the World Bank, and Professor Kong Tianping from the University
in Beijin. The Polish food sector was represented by Małgorzata Cebelińska, trade director at Mlekpol – food is one of the fastest growing sectors of trade between Poland and the Middle Kingdom. Spółdzielnia Mleczarska Mlekpol is a leader in the export of dairy products to China –
last year Spółdzielnia exported over 25,000 tons of its products to the Chinese market, mainly under its own brand Łaciate.

“We need a consistent, developed with entrepreneurs, consistently implemented economic strategy of the Polish state towards China. Abstaining from decisions on the EU-US-China line and too rare and irregular high-level meetings of the authorities are not conducive to reducing the deficit in trade with China. Polish entrepreneurs and their Chinese partners need support and commitment at the government level and cannot further develop the business “alone” – said Małgorzata Cebelińska during the panel. Professor Grzegorz Kolodko agreed with this proposal of the representative of Mlekpol, and stressed that without the clear commitment of the authorities at the level of the Polish government, there is no possibility of building and developing trade relations with China.

The completed room and huge interest in the panel shows that the Chinese market is an important element in the development of the Polish economy, the facts emphasised numerously in the participants’ statements. Mlekpol exports over 30% of its annual production. Leading export markets for Mlekpol are China and the countries of south-east Asia. The main export products are UHT milk and milk powders, yet butter and cheese also enjoy the growing interest of Chinese importers.

Contact to the media:

Bartosz Grochal

spokesperson

SM MLEKPOL

email: bartosz.grochal@v5group.pl

mobile: +48 505 223 467