China and Poland seek to strengthen bonds of prosperous friendship

During President of Poland Andrzej Duda's state visit to China from June 22 to 26, the two countries' leaders are charting a blueprint for their bilateral relationship.

The meeting of the countries' heads will upgrade the comprehensive strategic partnership between China and Poland and provide stronger impetus into bilateral cooperation between the two countries in various fields. This will send a positive signal of both countries' commitment to mutual benefit, win-win cooperation and joint response to challenges, according to Chinese Ambassador to Poland Sun Linjiang.

"Mutual respect and independence have laid a solid foundation for the steady and far-reaching development of Sino-Polish relations," Sun wrote in an article recently published in People's Daily.

The friendship between China and Poland has a long history, with Poland being one of the earliest countries to establish diplomatic relations with New China.

This year marks the 75th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

The two countries have always shown mutual respect and treated each other as equals over the past decades. Both sides adhere to the tradition of independence and autonomy, respect and care about each other's core interests and major concerns, and maintain communication on major international issues, Sun said.

Regardless of how the international situation changes, China has always attached great importance to and actively promoted the development of Sino-Polish relations, continuously deepening mutual political trust, expanding mutually beneficial cooperation, and bringing benefits to the peoples of both countries, he noted.

Recent years have seen the two countries get along with each other and their pragmatic cooperation has yielded fruitful results.

China has been Poland's second-largest trading partner for years and Poland remains China's largest trading partner in Central and Eastern Europe.

Over the past five years, the average annual growth in bilateral trade between China and Poland has exceeded 10 percent, reaching $42 billion in 2023, said Sun, citing customs data.

"There is a great deal of room for deepening pragmatic cooperation between China and Poland," Xu Changzhi, a researcher at the Development Research Centre of the State Council, told Tide News, an arm of Zhejiang Daily Press Group.

As a major agricultural country, Poland is home to such products highly recognized and favored by Chinese consumers.

In 2023, China and Poland signed protocols for the export of Polish beef and blueberries to China, helping such foodstuffs, alongside dairy products, to be delivered to Chinese dining tables and enabling them to become top choices among Chinese consumers.

"Both China and Poland hope that more high-quality Polish agricultural products and industrial goods can enter the Chinese market, while China also encourages more Chinese companies to invest in Poland," Xu said.

With more frequent exchanges between the two countries, a growing number of Chinese businesses are investing in the Polish market, with their cumulative direct investments amounting to some $4 billion.

Currently, Chinese enterprises have made extensive investment in Poland in such areas as electric vehicle components, new energy, logistics and transportation, he said, noting that green development and the digital economy are expected to become new growth areas for investment cooperation.

Polish Ambassador to China Jakub Kumoch said in December that the steady growth of the Polish economy and the continuous development of its industry provide enormous opportunities for Chinese companies, especially those involved in electric vehicles, electronics, transportation and logistics.

Poland hopes that in the next stage, both sides can cooperate in areas such as energy storage, intelligent energy management systems and hydrogen energy to promote efficient, rapid and sustainable energy transformation in the country, Kumoch said.

In addition, Chinese companies will continue participating in the construction of large-scale infrastructure projects in Poland, Xu said.

To date, the total value of executed infrastructure construction projects by Chinese enterprises in Poland is close to $3 billion. They mainly involve highways, railways, water conservancy and power facilities, according to Xu.

As one of the earliest countries to have signed an intergovernmental memorandum of understanding on jointly advancing the Belt and Road Initiative with China, Poland has become a nexus of the Belt and Road routes.

Around 90 percent of China-Europe freight trains pass through or arrive in Poland, highlighting its increasingly important role as a transportation hub connecting China with Central and Eastern Europe.