China’s President Xi Jinping said Monday that he sees an important role for Poland as his country looks to increase commercial ties with Europe.

Xi spoke during a visit to Warsaw that was intended to boost Chinese investment in infrastructure and energy and open the Chinese market to Polish food producers.

Poland has been China’s largest partner in central and eastern Europe, with trade worth tens of billions of euro. But Poland is chiefly an importer and is hoping to boost its economy by increasing exports, mainly of farm products and especially beef and apples, banned by major importer Russia.