Michal Ludwikowski

    我是米哈乌，好荣幸来北京参加青年政治家论坛，祝愿论坛圆满成功，代表们畅所欲言。（小编报料：别看这位波兰帅哥年轻轻，人家可是人民党最高理事会成员，而且是二度参会，可见咱论坛的魅力吧！）

I am very happy to be able to address the participants  at the opening of the 2nd China-CEE Young Political Leaders Forum. The honor is even greater as this is the second time for me to be a guest here.  I have had a pleasure to observe and be part of the development of China- CEE relations for a long time- long time for a young leader of course. The beginnings of Polish-Chinese relations date back to the 13th century and last month we celebrated the 66th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between our countries. However, the most significant moment I could witness in my life was the visit of Premier Wen Jiabao to Warsaw in 2012. Thanks to that summit the young leaders can meet in Beijing for the second time now. Our presence here is the result of the introduction of China's Twelve Measures for Promoting Friendly Cooperation with Central and Eastern European Countries. These measures are being gradually introduced and the benefits are being more and more visible.

We, the young leaders, are following the footsteps of our more experienced colleagues that met during China –CEEC summits in Bucharest in 2013 and Belgrade in 2014. I am sure that we will follow their example and do our best to strengthen the ties and relations between our region and China.

The format of 16+1 Countries cooperation is working well. It is an example of China’s special attention and friendliness to our region but also an expression of multinational unity that is today so important on the path to success and development.

We the CEEC are an important part of the world. CEEC has a population more than 180 million and combined Gross Domestic Product greater than GDP of the Russian Federation which is the biggest country in the world. One fourth of the above mentioned population live in Poland and one third of the GDP are created there. But Poland is not a leader of this region. We do our best to be the worthy representative， for there is a deep understanding that together and united we can be a strong player and our voice can be heard on the global economic and political scene.

During this forum， we will have a chance to learn more about each other, share opinions on current matters and look for a path for the future，the future that will bring us closer to each other. I feel that our goal should be to catch up with the modern technology that allows us not only to communicate faster but also travel faster than ever. My trip to Beijing from Warsaw took only 8 hours. This means that by means of modern transport China can literally become our neighbor. The development of the New Silk Road will make it true also in terms of cargo transport. That is why I strongly encourage all of you to look at China in a modern way, not as an oriental country in the Far East, but as a future neighbor and a close friend. My personal experience shows that this future is rather closer than distant, especially in terms of making friends which I believe will be true for all of you in a few days.

I would like to thank our Chinese hosts for the kind reception and I wish all the participants successful debates, good lessons learned and last but not least many new friendships that would last for the years to come.

波兰人民党最高理事会成员、波兰经济大会基金会总干事米哈乌·路德维科夫斯基（Michal Ludwikowski）