On October22, 2015, Mr. Damian Irzyk, Counsellor in the Political Section of the Embassy of the Republic of Poland in Beijing, visited IES and had a talk with Mr. Liu Zuokui, IES Director of Department of Central and Eastern European Studies.

Director Liu first expressed his welcome to Damian Irzyk and introduced to him the preparation process of the incoming fourth China-CEEC leaders summit and third China-CEEC high-level think tank symposium. They also had an in-depth exchange of views on the Polish policy towards China, domestic situation in Poland, as well as China-Poland cooperation. Damian Irzyk expressed that the Polish government has attached great importance to developing relations with China. Since the President of Poland Mr. Bronislaw Komorowski paid a state visit to China in 2011 and both countries agreed to lift their relations to the level of strategic partnership, the cooperation between both sides has been going smoothly. Poland also sent the Speaker of Poland’s Sejm (the lower house of the Polish Parliament), Mme. Malgorzata Kidawa-Błońska to participate in the celebrations marking the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II and showed its firm support to China. Director Liu appreciates that. 

Damian Irzyk also introduced domestic situation in Poland, where the parliamentary election is about to be held and the government led by one-party or multi-party alliance will be established. According to the recent poll, it is more likely that the opposition party which the current president belongs to would win the election and establish the government. Director Liu said that China has attached great importance to Poland’s role in the ‘One Belt One Road’ Framework as Poland, one of the EU members, owns distinctive geographical advantage and serves as an important gateway from China to Europe, thus can play a key role in connecting the western and eastern parts of the European continent. Damian Irzyk also expressed Poland’s willingness to cooperate with China under the ‘One Belt One Road’ Framework and export more high-quality agricultural products to China. They also discussed other issues, including the refugee crisis and the Poland-Russia relations.