China-Poland relations in 2010
2011-10-21 15:22

The friendly and cooperative partnership between the People's Republic of China and the Republic of Poland enjoyed a sound momentum in 2010 with deepening exchanges and cooperation in various fields.

The leaders of the two countries maintained contact, and there were frequent exchanges between the two governments and parliaments. The two sides enjoyed good communication and coordination in international affairs. From 2 to 6 November, CPPCC Chairman Jia Qinglin paid an official goodwill visit to Poland and had talks with Speaker of the Senate Bogdan Borusewicz. He met with President Bronislaw Komorowski, Prime Minister Donald Tusk and Speaker of the Sejm Grzegorz Schetyna. He delivered an important speech on bilateral business relations during the breakfast meeting of Chinese and Polish entrepreneurs. The leaders of the two countries had an in-depth exchange of views on bilateral relations and international issues of common interest. They reached entensive consensus and pushed the bilateral relations to a new high. There was a remarkable increase of mutual visits at and above the vice-ministerial level. Those from the Chinese side include: Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Zhang Zhijun, Vice Minister of Commerce Gao Hucheng, Vice Minister of Education Chen Xi, Vice Minister of Science Cao Jianlin, Vice Minister of Culture Yang Zhijin, Vice Minister of Housing and Urban-Rural Development Qiu Baoxing, Vice Minister of Human Resources and Social Security Yang Zhiming, Chairmen of the NPC Committee for Education, Science, Culture and Health Bai Keming, Vice Chairman of the NPC Committee for Legal Work Xin Chunying, and Deputy Secretary General of the NPC Standing Committee Zhang Shaoqin. Those from the Polish side include: Speaker of the Sejm Grzegorz Schetyna ( for the closing ceremony of the Shanghai World Expo), President of the Supreme Audit Office Jecek Jezierski, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Marek Sawicki, Minister of Culture and National Heritage Bogdan Zdrojewski ( for the National Day of the Poland Pavilion), Minister of Infrastructure Cezary Grabarczyk and Minister of Internal Affairs and Administration Jerzy Miller.

The two sides enjoyed fruitful business cooperation and a rapid increase of bilateral trade volume. Poland maintained its position as China's largest trading partner in Central and Eastern Europe. In February, the two sides successfully hosted the 14th meeting of the China-Poland Joint Commission on Economic Cooperation in Warsaw. The two countries made positive headway in infrastructure cooperation, as marked by the official start of the construction of the two sections of the A2 Motorway in Poland by Covec (China Overseas Engineering Group Co., Ltd). In November, the Chinese Ministry of Railways held a promotion event of China's high speed rail technology in Warsaw together with Polish Ministry of Infrastructure. There were frequent exchanges between the business communities of the two countries with an increase of mutual investment.

China-Poland exchanges in culture and education deepened. The "Polish Culture Festival" and the activities celebrating the 200th anniversary of Chopin's birth were very successful and well received in China. The Poland Pavilion at the World Expo in Shanghai was very popular among domestic and foreign visitors. Altogether 8 million people visited the Pavilion. The "China Movie Exhibition" in Poland was successful and once again aroused Chinese culture fever. The educational departments and universities of the two countries enhanced communication and cooperation with more and more students studying in each other's country. The Confucius Institutes in Jagiellonian and other three universities operated smoothly. Cooperation in science and technology and agriculture further developed. The 34th meeting of the China-Poland Science and Technology Cooperation Commission was held in Poland.

The two militaries stengthened their relations with continued high-level exchanges. In July, Lieutenant General Jing Zhiyuan, Member of the Central Military Commission and Commander of the Second Artillery Force, made a stopover in Poland. In September, Lieutenant General Wang Guosheng, Commander of the PLA Lanzhou Military Region, led a delegation to Poland. In October, Deputy Director of the PLA General Logistics Department Major General Ding Jiye visited Poland. In October, Chief of General Staff of Polish Armed Forces Lieutenant General Mieczyslaw Cieniuch visited China.

There were increased exchanges betwenn localities of the two countries, especially between the sister cities and provinces. More than ten delegations from China at and above the vice-ministerial level visited Poland. This had expanded the practical cooperation between localities of the two countries.