Tian Jianmin

A word that is heard most among Chinese and overseas Chinese in Warsaw， the capital of Poland， is “GD”. I come to know later that “GD” is a distribution center of goods with a full name of“GD POLAND DISTRIBUTION CENTER”， or being called “GD Center” for short.

20 kilometers away from the downtown Warsaw， GD Center was established in 1994 covering an area of 50，000 square meters by Guangdong Aohai Group with investment funds of 25 million dollars at the outset. Afterwards， Jin Jianmin from Wenzhou， Zhejiang Province， China， became the controlling shareholder of the Center. After rapid development in the past two decades and more， GD Center now covers an area of more than 40，000 square meters and boasts a total floor area of over 20，000 square meters with six commerce and trade building， three warehouse and storage buildings and a hotel. More than 1，000 companies are tenants of GD Center. Half of the managers here are Chinese businessmen and others are foreign businessmen from Vietnam， Poland， Turkey， India and other countries.

There are 400，000 categories of commodities in GD Center including light textile， shoes and hats， bags and suitcases， small commodities and others， among which 90% are from China. Every year， the Center pays more than 10 million dollars of various taxation for Poland government， providing employment for 5，000 local people directly. It is emerging as a growth engine for the regions economy and a model for China-EU cooperation.

When walking into the Center， what greet you first are huge boards with Polish and Chinese characters on it. The advertising board on each building shows the patterns of commodities under which Chinese and Polish characters are printed. Pushing carts fully loaded with purchased goods， dealers come and go hastily. Impressive ranges of shoes， garments， hats and daily necessities are displayed in stores， striking people as entering into a domestic large marketplace and a small-scale Yiwu city （a city with the world largest small commodity distribution center located in Zhejiang Province， China）.

The hustle and bustle hall of the Center is packed with people dealing with goods busily. With strong and complete supporting services and market functions， GD Center is built with a wide range of facilities including banks， money exchange counters， post office， logistics centers， accounting firms， hotels and travel agencies. As convenient as it is， it has become a "business heaven" for purchasers in Poland and from neighbouring countries and Asian manufacturers.

GD Center is not only a demonstration platform for Chinese commodities but also a gathering place of Chinese people. For historical and economic reasons， Chinese people rarely came to Poland. Until the 1990s， they began to come here from China or European countries successively. Where they firstly settled is GD Center. At present， there are tens of thousands of Chinese and overseas Chinese in Poland， 80% of whom are engaged in business in GD Center which looks like an another form of "Chinatown".

Located in the area where Eastern Europe borders upon Western Europe， Poland is one of the relatively large countries in Central and East Europe with a population of 38 million adjacent to German. Boasting distinct location advantages， great influence and strong leading force， GD Center attracts many customers to purchase here including wholesalers from Poland， large transnational supermarkets run in Poland such as Carrefour， Tesco， and Auchan and also businessmen from neighbouring countries of Poland such as Ukraine， Belarus， Lithuania， Latvia， Czech and Slovakia who come to GD Center by through train for purchasing in large quantities every week.

As the "One Belt and One Road" initiative gains momentum， Poland， as a country along the silk road， will play an irreplaceable role in the economic exchanges between China and central and eastern European countries. Serving as a "bridgehead" for Chinese commodities， GD Center is playing an increasingly important role in providing a sound platform for Chinese commodities and companies to enter into Poland and far-sighted Chinese people and enterprises who want to go abroad to show their competence and talents. During our visit in GD Center， we delightedly witnessed that Zibo Shentong Express signed a strategic cooperation agreement with Poland Shentong Express in GD Center， which sets a good precedent for enterprises in Zibo， Shandong Province， China to go abroad.

（Authors Affiliation： Foreign Affairs and Overseas Chinese Affairs Office of the People's Government of Zibo City， Shandong Province）

Apprentice Editor： Liu Dingrui

Tr. by Yang Xianyuan