Ambassador Sun Yuxi says that both Poland and China have drawn lessons from the "unfortunate" COVEC incident Courtesy of the Chinese Embassy in Poland

Ewa Boniecka: How do you assess the impact of the recently signed agreement for establishing a strategic partnership between China and Poland?

Sun Yuxi: Establishing a strategic partnership between China and Poland is a very good beginning for a new chapter in Sino-Polish relations. While our mutual relations have been very good over the years, the strategic partnership agreement upgrades them to a higher and more comprehensive level. We are now living in a time when all countries in the world are concentrating on their economic development, and on delivering higher standards of living for their people. This strategic partnership agreement means that we have a common desire to complete this development. While China is the biggest developing country in the world and is an important player in Asia, Poland is the biggest country in Central and Eastern Europe and an important member of the European Union.

The strategic partnership between our countries has meaning going beyond our mutual relations. Naturally, first of all, we want to upgrade our mutual relations, [but] upgrading them would [also] mean that Poland would have a more active presence in Asia and China in Eastern Europe. Our strategic partnership also means closer cooperation between Poland and China in dealing with major world issues, so it will have a positive impact on the international scene.

China had already signed a strategic partnership with the European Union, yet it also signed the same deal with several individual members of the EU. What are the criteria for concluding strategic partnership agreements?

Poland is the first country among new EU member states that has signed an individual strategic partnership agreement with China. Such agreements are always signed with countries that have a strong economic position and political influence in their region, such as France, Germany, Italy and now Poland. The aim for establishing strategic partnerships is to raise political contacts to a higher level and obtain government support for developing economic relations under the rules of a market economy.

During President Komorowski’s visit to China at the end of 2011, there were various agreements signed. Which in your view is the most important for the development of Polish-Chinese relations?

The basis for all agreements is the joint statement on strategic partnership, which was signed by the two countries’ presidents. It sets the direction for the development of our relations in every area, be it political, economic, financial, cultural or educational.

In my view, the basis for developing closer relations between China and Poland is to build better understanding between our peoples, because they – among them managers, businesspeople and state representatives, are the ones who conduct our relations. The more they understand each other and our countries’ aims, customs and historical traditions, the better they will be able to work together.

So I will point to agreements that were signed on a ministerial level, concerning cultural and educational cooperation, and exchange of students and scholars, as well as to the opening of new Polish-language university departments in China and Chinese-language departments in Poland.

One thing that is very helpful for facilitating business contacts and the development of tourism is the agreement to begin operating a direct flight from Warsaw to Beijing. The first Lot Polish Airlines plane will fly there in June. There are also prospects for establishing additional direct connections from Poland to other Chinese cities, like Shanghai. So in the future Warsaw could become a center for airline transportation between Eastern Europe and China.

Let’s move now to the fields of economics and business. Chinese machinery group LiuGong has signed a contract to purchase the civilian arm of Polish state-owned construction machinery manufacturer Huta Stalowa Wola. Will this asset now be Chinese property?

It will be joint Chinese-Polish property, with some shares in that private company belonging to LiuGong, which is listed on the stock market in Shanghai, and some by the Polish side. Production will be continuously operated by Polish workers and most managers will be Polish, with some added Chinese specialists.

The negotiations between LiuGong and Polish representatives and trade unions lasted for quite a long time. All of the details have been taken care of, so LiuGong is now well-prepared to fulfill the deal. I think, by the way, that the Chinese and Polish sides have drawn lessons from the unfortunate COVEC experience, when that Chinese firm failed to realize the contract for building part of the A2 motorway in Poland.

In our trade exchange there is great imbalance on the Polish side – Poland imports a lot from China but exports are quite small. How can this be changed?

In the first half of 2011, our bilateral trade volume was $6.01 billion, but $5.08 billion were imports from China and only $0.93 billion were Polish exports to China. During President Komorowski’s visit this issue was discussed and China will open its market for Polish products. There will be an increase in the amount of agricultural products we import from Poland, among them pork, dairy products and vodka. Chinese people have already developed a taste for Polish vodka and they are great consumers of vodka from around the world.

Poland has very advanced technology in the mining sector and good opportunities for obtaining renewable energy, so there are real possibilities for increasing Poland’s export offer. An agreement has already been signed between the chairman of [Polish copper miner] KGHM and our company China Minmetals for the delivery of copper to China. The value of that contract is $3.5 billion. And I know that there are more ongoing consultations and direct talks between our companies to push trade forward. Both sides are keen to reduce the current imbalance.

China has a similar imbalance in trade with other European countries and also with the US. Our economic policy is now focused on increasing imports to China. China wants to enter Poland’s banking market. What concrete efforts is it making?

Our Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), which has branches all over the world, is now going to open a branch in Warsaw, probably in May. Another one, Bank of China, is going to open one in March. Also, our China Development Bank is interested in coming to Poland. Those banks will help Chinese companies to invest in Poland and will also offer some banking services to Polish companies interested in exporting to and investing in China.

The Chinese economy is now the second-largest in the world and you have huge foreign currency reserves. How are you working with Europe when it comes to the current economic crisis?

We want to play a constructive role in handling the crisis and we will continue to make a contribution. We have already bought quite a lot of debt and bank bonds from troubled countries, like Greece. We are trying to make investments in European countries and to balance our trade with them. This year we plan to send hundreds of delegations abroad to talk about purchasing European goods.

The solution to the present crisis is to help the global economy to recover, and while China has not so far been affected by that crisis and keeps a high rate of GDP growth, the crisis did still affect our foreign trade in 2009. So in the world of the global market economy, we are linked to each other and we have to make joint efforts to combat the crisis.

China’s current five-year plan focuses on increasing domestic spending and consumption. Would it also open the way to increasing imports to China?

Yes, because one of the results of the plan will be a faster process of urbanization. By the end of 2011, the urban population already exceeded 51 percent of our total population. That transfer of people requires new houses, roads, schools and other services. The money for investments would come partially from central and local governments, but mostly from the private sector. This means that we will need to import technologies, services and goods for new urban consumers. China is changing: Western culture is accepted in big cities, European goods and clothing are very popular and we have the greatest number of McDonald’s restaurants in the world.

All this means that there is room for foreign businesses in every sector of life. For instance, W.Kruk, the famous Polish jeweler, wants to open a chain of shops in China, in partnership with a Chinese firm. I believe they will achieve success because amber jewelry will be very popular in China, where amber is regarded as a symbol of health.

And how is Chinese culture promoted abroad?

I think the “cultural offensive” is not a one-way street. Chinese culture is part of global civilization and there is and always was a great interest in our culture and language all over the world. People like Chinese art and celebrate Chinese New Year – we recently celebrated the beginning of the Year of the Dragon. Foreigners study Chinese languages in hundreds of colleges all over the world, and in Poland there are four Confucius Institutes where it’s possible to study Chinese – in Poznań, Kraków, Opole and Wrocław. One more is going to be opened in Gdańsk. The Chinese language is becoming the second-most-spoken business language, after English.

China is perceived as being one of the emerging political giants, as part of the group of BRIC countries How do you see the situation?

The BRIC countries share the common characteristic of being fast-developing countries. Together, we already produce half of the world’s economic output, so our cooperation is good for the world economy as a whole. While the GDPs of rich countries in Europe and North America are shrinking, BRIC countries are maintaining economic growth. It is a new drive in the world’s development. With huge populations and good outlooks for further development, BRIC countries, however internally different, are becoming both an economic and political force to be reckoned with on the international scene.

You have served as Chinese ambassador to Poland for a year and a half already. In that time you have seen our mutual relations raised to the status of strategic partnership. Do you envisage the visit of the Chinese president to Poland during your time as ambassador?

Within the next year we will have a change of government. The Chinese president, according to the constitution, can only serve for two terms. So President Hu Jintao will end his term soon and we will have a new president. I hope the new president will visit Poland as soon as possible and in the meantime we will continue to send high-level representatives to visit one another.

I hope that later in my ambassadorship in Poland there will be more meaningful progress in the development of our mutual relations. And maybe I will have a chance to walk through the renovated Chinese Alley in the Łazienki Park in Warsaw, which was first created during the time of Polish King Stanisław August Poniatowski. The renovation is going to be carried out jointly by Polish and Chinese investors.