China and the United States have agreed on trade, and hence have reached a truce in tariff war. During the negotiations in Washington, a framework agreement was concluded that envisages increasing imports of American goods to China. Importantly, the participants of the negotiations did not inform to what level the Chinese imports would grow. Both countries, however, declared their willingness to further talks aimed at reducing the US deficit in trade with China, and they promise to deepen cooperation in the protection of intellectual property rights.

China, despite the status of the most populous country in the world, is struggling with growing demographic problems. This is mainly due to the one-child policy that has been in force for the last four decades, envisaging financial penalties for couples who decided to have more children. Currently, as a result of controlled the number of births, China is running out of hands to work. At the same time, the proportion between the number of men and women is disturbed, which translates into an aging population and rising social costs. For this reason, the authorities in Beijing allowed in 2015 Chinese couples to have two children. Additionally, new regulations, assume that from 2019, Chinese people will be allowed to decide for themselves and without limitations, how many children they want to have. According to experts, changes are introduced too late and in addition are insufficient to solve demographic problems in China.

In May 2018, the world's largest floating solar farm will come into full use in the Chinese province of Anhui. Thousands of floating panels capable of producing 150 megawatts will supply 94,000 homes with electricity. The $ 150 million project is another investment in renewable energy implemented in Anhui province - in 2017, the construction of a 40-megawatt floating solar farm was completed. Fighting air pollution, the Chinese government plans to spend $ 360 billion for renewable energy by 2020, which will mean the creation of 13 million new jobs. China has become in this way the world leader in investing in energy sources such as solar, wind and water.

After a few years of break, Poland has started to buy a concentrated apple juice in China. Taking into account that Poland is one of the largest producers of apples in the world, this situation can be described as "carrying a coals to Newcastle". According to analysis prepared by PKO BP, from July to September, the EU countries imported from China 9,6 thousand tons of concentrate, almost three times more than the year before. The reason for this situation are spring frosts, which caused losses in apples not only in Poland, but in many European countries. In 2017 apples harvest was lowest for 10 years. This situation has probably facilitated the Chinese state-owned company Zhonglu Fruit Juice Co. Ltd. to purchase Appol, the largest apple concentrate producer in Poland for the sum of over 68,5 mln PLN (ca. 16,3 mln EUR). In December the companies have signed an investment agreement, but the success of the transaction and the final price will depend on the results of the audit.

The company OT Logistics, the largest in Poland and one of the largest in Europe carriers engaged in inland navigation, has established the Intermodal Logistics Department, offering rail transport services in the import of goods from China and exports to this country. New department provides connections between 13 terminals in China and two terminals in Poland: in Łódź and in Małaszewicze. The company's customers can order full container (FCL) or groupage/pallet transport (LCL). In this way, OT Logistics meets the needs of smaller companies. The offer enables the ordering of the "door-to-door" service. The company handles the entire process from the collection of goods in the factory through customs clearance in China and Poland. As its board emphasizes, the new service is directed to companies wanting to take advantage of the New Silk Road.

A new ship for Polsteam (PŻM) was built at Yangfan Chinese shipyard. M/s "Tczew" is another unit from the Polsteam’s investment program for years 2015-2020, in which a total of 18 bulk carriers, worth over 400 million USD will be built. Until now, PŻM has received 4 bulk carriers with load capacity approx. 39 thousand tones each. Yangfan shipyard will build in total 12 units for PŻM - the remaining six will also be built in China, at the Yangzijiang shipyard. The state-owned company Polsteam is the largest Polish shipowner, with 56 ships in the capital group. About 2,5 thousand seamen work on their decks.

In Beijing, 20 years of cooperation between state-owned KGHM Polska Miedź S.A. and China Minmetals Corporation was celebrated. Radosław Domagalski, president of KGHM Polska Miedź S.A. and Guo Wenqing, president of the China Minmetals Corporation and chairman of the China Metallurgical Group Corporation, summarized their previous cooperation and talked about the possibilities of its development. Since 1997 till end of 2016, the Polish company had sold Chinese partner nearly 881 thousand tons of copper cathodes for 5 billion USD. In June 2016, during the visit to Poland, the head of the PRC, Xi Jinping, KGHM and China Minmetals, signed another long-term contract for 2017-2021. KGHM has been one of the largest Polish exporters to China for many years. One third of all Polish exports to China is copper.

Prime Minister Beata Szydło attended the sixth meeting of the Central European countries and China within 16+1 group, which took place in Budapest. According to the spokesperson of the government Rafał Bochenek, one of the objectives of the Polish delegation was the broader opening of the Chinese market to Polish brands. On 27th November, Szydło met with Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang to discuss current projects including the Central Communication Port (CPK). According to Szydło, “we come to the point and the realization of various economic agreements becomes a reality”. To prove her point, the Prime Minister mentioned a strategic cooperation agreement between the Polish Agency for Investment and Trade (PAIH) and the government of the Chinese province of Hunan, which was signed in Budapest. Summing up the summit it should be also added that Poland decided not to join the China-Central Eastern Europe Fund (SinoCEEF), with capital of about USD 500 million, to support Chinese investments in the region.

Representatives of the authorities of the Pomorskie Voivodeship, Gdańsk and Pruszcz Gdański along with representatives of thirteen Pomeranian enterprises from the shipbuilding, food and medical industries, took part in a promotional seminar and B2B meetings that took place at the Polish Embassy in Beijing. During seminar, the Marshal of the Pomeranian Voivodeship Mieczysław Struk and the Vice President of the Pomerania Development Agency Piotr Ciechowicz presented, inter alia, the economic development and investment advantages of the region, as well as the export offer of Pomeranian enterprises. The seminar was attended by over 30 representatives of Chinese institutions and economic organizations, including representatives of the Chinese Council for the Promotion of Foreign Trade, the Chinese Council for the Promotion of International Investments, the Trade Development Office of the Ministry of Commerce of the PRC and the Investment Promotion Office of the City of Beijing. More than 60 Chinese entrepreneurs interested mainly in importing products and services to China took part in the B2B meetings session, which took place directly after the seminar.

Chinese Administration for Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ) abolished the ban on imports of Polish poultry, which lasted from December last year in relation to avian influenza cases. Earlier this year, the general director of the National Poultry Council (KRD) Łukasz Dominiak insisted that China was the most promising export market for Polish poultry. Representatives of the KRD then estimated that if the Chinese market was opened for Poland by 2020, the value of Polish exports of poultry to China could grow up to 500 million EUR annually. Last year, before the onset of avian influenza, Poland exported poultry to China worth around 75 million EUR.

On 7th November, the Ministry of Energy held a meeting of Minister of Energy Krzysztof Tchórzewski and Deputy Minister Andrzej Piotrowski with the Vice President of the China Energy Authority Liu Baohua. The opportunities of developing Polish-Chinese cooperation in the energy sector were discussed. Participants talked about issues related to the modernization of coal-fired power plants, the development of power networks, electromobility and nuclear power in both countries. Minister Tchórzewski emphasized that cooperation in the implementation of new technologies in the sector could be complementary to the existing cooperation in the field of conventional energy or mining.

Łódź Voivodeship promoted its region in Chengdu in November. Within the project "Łódź goes China" a stall with Polish apples, honey and cereal products stood for several days at the center of the capital of Sichuan Province. The whole project consisted of several components: media promotion, both through traditional and social media, as well as the direct involvement of Łódź companies in business missions. The local government in cooperation with the partner - Amber Global Consulting - developed and organized a series of trainings and two business missions to accelerate the expansion of small and medium-sized companies from Łódź to China. The project is to be continued - in the first quarter of 2018 companies from the Łódź region will participate in the technology fair. Activities promoting Polish culture in relation to the 100th anniversary of regaining independence are also planned for the next year.

Visiting China from October 30-31, 2017 Andrzej Konieczny, Under Secretary of State at the Ministry of the Environment, met with Liu Dongsheng, Deputy Minister of the China State Forestry Administration. During the encounter, Konieczny proposed deepening cooperation between our countries in the field of forest management, forest research and forest products within a framework of the memorandum signed in 2014. Deputy Minister Liu stressed that China was also interested in deepening cooperation in these areas. In particular, China would like to learn more about the Polish experience in forest management, following the challenge China is facing regarding the improvement of the quality of its stand and the effectiveness of forest management. Mr Konieczny also took part in a two-day conference on research and educational cooperation between China and the Central and Eastern European Countries in the field of forestry.

On 24th October 2017, the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China in Beijing has ended. During the Congress, President Xi Jinping has not only strengthened his power but also set ambitious plans for the future. According to Xi, by 2035, China is to become a developed socialist country, and by 2050 - a powerful, rich and with well-equipped world-class army. One of the elements of this plan is to create a navy that will be able to carry out activities around the globe. The Chinese leader has stressed that Beijing will continue to build artificial islands in the South China Sea, and to oppose any Taiwanese independence efforts. Xi Jinping also called nations of all countries to get rid of the "cold war" mentality in favour of dialogue and partnership.

Located at the heart of the world's fastest growing economies, Hong Kong is widely recognised as the trade fair capital in Asia. It hosts more than 110 exhibitions each year, attracting some 62,000 exhibiting companies and 5 million visitors from around the world. Many of its events are the largest in Asia, and it is particularly renowned as a platform for facilitating China trade with the world. Cosmetics, wines and spirits, toys, automotive - these are just a few of the sectors that will be presented during the Hong Kong Fair in the last two months of 2017.