Xi hails China’s “true friendship” with Poland after meeting Duda for talks on trade and investment

China’s president, Xi Jinping, met his Polish counterpart Andrzej Duda in Beijing yesterday, with talks focusing on strengthening trade and investment ties between the two countries.

Duda was the only elected EU head of state to attend the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics, at which some western countries have openly declared a diplomatic boycott due to China’s human rights record.

The Polish president’s office has argued that the trip offered a diplomatic opportunity to provide Beijing with an alternative perspective on the Ukraine crisis to that presented by Russia.

After meeting Duda, Xi hailed the “true, trusting and sincere friendship” between Poland and China, announced the Chinese embassy in Warsaw. The two leaders are “ready to make efforts to guide the development of Sino-Polish relations so as to bring prosperity to both countries”, it added.

Xi called for the development of trade and investment, including through China’s “Belt and Road” initiative. “The Chinese side is actively participating in the creation of the Polish logistics hub, which will help Poland become a key link in the industrial and supply chain between China and Europe,” said the embassy’s statement.

China is also keen to expand its imports of “high-quality products, in particular agricultural products” from Poland, and “to encourage more Chinese businesses to invest in Poland”.

While the Polish president’s office has not released details of the meeting, the Chinese side said that Duda thanked Beijing for its help providing medical supplies to fight the COVID-19 pandemic and for its economic cooperation with Poland and other Central European countries. He expressed hope that Poland can “become China’s gateway to Europe”.

One of Duda’s chief aides, Andrzej Dera, confirmed that the security situation in Central and Eastern Europe, and in particular the current tensions with Russia, had also been part of the discussions.

Two days before meeting Duda, Xi had hosted Vladimir Putin, after which the Chinese and Russian leaders signed a joint statement expressing “opposition to the further expansion of NATO” and calling on the West “to abandon the ideologised approaches of the Cold War”.

Dera noted that the aim was therefore to “inform the Chinese side about the current situation from the point of view of European countries, countries belonging to NATO, because the Chinese president probably has information from the other side”.

“China is a superpower, and it’s good for them to know what’s going on,” he added, quoted by Onet.

Dera also confirmed that “a significant part of the talks” had concerned economic ties. “The Chinese economy is one of the largest [in the world],” he told TVN24. “Whoever has business with China has security for the coming years…The president spoke in the interests of our economy.”

Main image credit: Prezydent.pl

Daniel Tilles

Daniel Tilles is editor-in-chief of Notes from Poland. He has written on Polish affairs for a wide range of publications, including Foreign Policy, POLITICO Europe, EUobserver and Dziennik Gazeta Prawna.