The Outlook of the Economic Cooperation between China and Poland
The Outlook of the Economic Cooperation between China and Poland

Summary/Abstract: After China and Poland lifted their ties to a strategic partnership in 2011, and in April 2012, the inaugural summit of the 16+1 platform took place in Warsaw, the bilateral relations entered a new phase. In June 2016, the two partners upgraded their relations to a comprehensive strategic partnership during Chinese President Xi Jinping’s state visit to Poland. Against the backdrop of the Polish elites’ ambition that their country should gain a more prominent role at the regional and even global level, a pragmatic attitude towards China gradually emerged, which created the favourable premises for strengthening bilateral relations. That explained the adoption by Poland of an “open door” policy towards China, but taking into account the asymmetries between the two countries in terms of size of their markets, territory, population, as well as the supply and demand capacities. The objectives of this paper are threefold. First, it emphasizes the economic, political and geopolitical arguments on both sides to strengthen the bilateral cooperation. Second, it underscores Poland’s economic advantages as compared to the other CEE countries and consequently its attractiveness for Chinese investors. Third it stresses several challenges for the Polish-Chinese strategic partnership, taking into account that very high expectations in 2011-2012 were not materialized and consequently the expectations are gradually diminishing. The paper concludes on an optimistic note that the strategic partnership is still relevant for both sides, as Chinese and Polish development strategies are complementary.

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