Belt and Road Initiative provides chances to improve bilateral trade

WARSAW - Never before has Mariusz Marczak shown so much interest in the Chinese market half a world away from Poland.

"We want to produce more quality milk for Chinese consumers," the 31-year-old cow breeder and milk producer said.

Marczak, also father of a 1-year-old daughter, keeps 170 milk cows in the small village of Lipnice, more than one hour's drive from the Polish capital of Warsaw.

Just about 60 kilometers west of Marczak's farm, the city of Lodz now has a direct cargo railway connection with Chengdu, Southwest China's Sichuan province.

The rail connection is one of the symbolic projects of the Belt and Road Initiative, a China-proposed transnational network of trade, investment and economic development.

"As a milk producer, I look to the Chinese market, as there is a huge opportunity. We want to produce more quality product to satisfy Chinese consumers," Marczak said.

Marczak took over the family farm from his father who started his career with only three cows in the 1970s.

Now his cows stay in pleasant conditions, some were freely eating and drinking, some were enjoying massage with the help of automatically-rotating brushes, and being milked.

Marczak has equipped his farm with automatic milking machines and now his farm produces 3,000 liters milk a day.

"At the beginning, I never thought it was possible," said Stanislaw, Marczak's 65-year-old father. But it was due to hard work and good cooperation with Lowicz Cooperative Plant which was created 110 years ago.

"Our cooperation began in the 70s and lasted uninterruptedly until now. And it ensures stable price and reduces risks," he said.

Szymon Makos, export specialist form OSM Lowicz, shares Marczak's views on the Chinese market.

"Last year, we exported about 600 containers of milk products, worth about $11 million, to China, but we do hope it will continue to rise, as we are capable of producing much more," Makos said.

OSM Lowicz now produces more than 250 types of products and exports them to 56 countries and is among top 5 dairy producers in Poland.

To meet the taste of the Chinese consumers, the company had done lots of research and developed a kind of Greek-style yogurt drink.

Dynamic increase

Since 2014, more Polish producers have turned to the Chinese market.

According to Polish official data, the value of Polish agri-food exports to China has grown dynamically in 2014. Dairy products consist of more than 30 percent of Polish agri-food export to China in 2015.

"The Belt and Road Initiative is an opportunity to improve the bilateral trade cooperation in agri-food sector. We are convinced that the Polish food products can be attractive to the Chinese in terms of price and quality," said Katarzyna Szymanska, head of Unit of Export Support Office of Agricultural Market Agency of Poland.

The increase of cargo trains between China and Poland becomes more appealing as more and more Polish food products, such as wine, has already used this transportation mode.

"The regular, fast rail transport may be a drive to establish new, fruitful business relationships by a greater number of entities whose maritime transport was too long or whose goods did not qualify for this type of transport," Szymanska said.