SHANGHAI - A host of important economic deals were signed during the first day of Polish President Bronislaw Komorowski's visit to China, highlighting the country's desire to attract Chinese investment.

Komorowski told the Sino-Polish Investment Cooperation Forum in Shanghai that the purpose of his visit to China was partly to highlight Poland's attractiveness as a business partner, pointing to the nation's healthy economic growth and its role as a gateway to other markets in the European Union.

Starting his China visit in Shanghai "has significant symbolic meanings", said the Polish president, pointing out that the city has "witnessed the decades-long friendship between Poland and China and it reflects the tremendous changes China and Asia have gone through".

China-Poland economic ties can be traced back to 1951, when the Chinese-Polish Joint Stock Shipping Company, China's first joint venture with a foreign counterpart, was formed and headquartered in Shanghai.

Bilateral agreements reached at the forum included cooperation in machinery, technological innovation and introducing Poland's investment policies to Chinese businesspeople.

According to a memorandum of understanding signed at the forum, Sany Group, China's leading heavy equipment manufacturer, will establish an assembly plant in Poland to serve markets throughout Eastern and Central Europe, Andrzej Juchniewicz, head of the China branch of the Polish Information and Foreign Investment Agency, told China Daily.

The Shanghai municipal government will play a role in promoting Poland as an ideal destination for Chinese investors, Juchniewicz said, and two high-tech centers will focus on technology and talent exchanges between the two countries.

As the only economy in the EU whose GDP has grown every year since 1992, Poland's healthy economic outlook and stable financial institutions provide cost-efficient investment options, Komorowski said.

"Poland's GDP is expected to grow 4 percent in 2011, and forecasts for the coming years point to continued solid growth of 3 to 4 percent," Komorowski said. "These indicators have laid solid basis for investors abroad and win Poland a good reputation to attract inbound investment."

Poland is the sixth-largest economy in the EU and ranks 20th globally.

Bilateral trade rocketed to $11.14 billion in 2010 from $860 million in 1999, enjoying an average year-on-year growth of 29.1 percent, said Zhang Wei, vice-chairman of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade.

With robust economic development, China's outbound foreign direct investment (FDI) surged more than tenfold between 2003 and 2009, accounting for 9.1 percent of the world's outbound FDI flow.

But Chinese investment in Poland remains in its infancy. As of 2010, Chinese investment, at about $250 million, equals slightly more than 0.1 percent of total FDI in Poland, according to consultancy firm KPMG.

So far, a handful of major Chinese companies have established themselves in the Polish market, including telecommunications equipment makers Huawei Technologies Co Ltd and ZTE Corp, metal trading company China Minmetals Corp, and locomotive manufacturer China CNR Corp.