I. Review of the Bilateral Political Relations
On Oct. 5, 1949 Poland announced its recognition of the People's Republic of China, and on Oct. 7 of the same year, the diplomatic relations at ambassadorial level between the two countries were established. The 1950s witnessed a comprehensive development in the Sino-Polish relations, which were characterized by mutual support and close cooperation. High-level visits were exchanged frequently. Zhou Enlai, Zhu De, Peng Dehuai, He Long and other Chinese leaders visited Poland at different times and Premier Zhou Enlai paid two visits. One of Premier Zhou's visits that took place in 1956 right after the October Incident in Poland greatly enhanced the mutual understanding and friendship between the two countries and the two peoples. The Polish leaders Boleslaw Bierut, Edward Ochab, Jozef Cyrankiewicz and others also visited China at different times. While China supported the Polish proposal of nuclear-free zone in Central Europe, Poland also supported China in the war to resist U. S. aggression and aid Korea and in its struggle for the reunification of the motherland and restoration of its lawful seat in the United Nations.
Starting from the late 1950s, with the worsening of the Sino-Soviet relations, the Sino-Polish relations were also gradually estranged and the high-level visits gradually came to an end. During this period, however, Poland still adhered to its position of opposing "two Chinas" and demanding for the restoration of China's lawful seat in the U.N., and China was still concerned about Poland's struggle for safeguarding sovereignty and supported Poland's stand of opposing the alteration of the Oder-Neisse boundary line. In the early 1970s, there emerged a thawing of the Sino-Polish relations. In 1971, Poland ceremoniously celebrated the 20th anniversary of the founding of the Sino-Polish Shipping Company, and the Polish marine transport minister and the Chinese communications mnister exchanged visits, thus resuming contacts between the two countries at ministerial level fairly early.
At the beginning of the 1980s, the Solidarity Trade Union incident happened in Poland and the political situation in the country became volatile. China solemnly maintained that the question of Poland should be solved peacefully by the Polish people themselves in conformity with the interests of the country and its people and any foreign interference should be firmly opposed. After 1981, China provided Poland with three loans, of which the long-term interest-free loan was meant for purchasing pork and the low-interest loan for buying general commodities, and both of the countries showed good wishes for improving relations and acted accordingly. From 1983, the Sino-Polish relations set in motion the process of normalization. The vice premiers of the two nations exchanged visits and the foreign ministers met during the sessions of the United Nations General Assembly to hold consultations on bilateral relations and international issues. The cooperation between the two countries in the fields of economy, science and technology, trade and culture and education also showed remarkable recovery and progress. In the fall of 1986, Wojciech Jaruzelski, first secretary of the Central Committee of the Polish United Worker's Party and chairman of the State Council paid a working visit to China. In 1987, Zhao Ziyang, acting general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party Central Committee and premier of the State Council, paid an official goodwill visit to Poland. In summer of 1988, Polish Prime Minister Zbigniew Messner visited China.
The Sino-Polish relations entered a new historical period in 1989 when drastic changes took place in Poland as a result of the fact that the parties based on the Solidarity Trade Union took over power and drastically changed the country's domestic and foreign policies. China persistently respected Poland's sovereignty and the Polish people's choice and, transcending the differences in social system, ideology and road of development, continued to maintain and develop the state-to-state relations with Poland on the basis of the five principles of peaceful co-existence. In 1991, Chinese Foreign Minister Qian Qichen and Polish Foreign Minister Skubiszewski exchanged visits, which enhanced mutual understanding and vigorously promoted the normal development of bilateral ties. In 1993, Chinese Vice Premier Zou Jiahua and Polish Deputy Prime Minister Goryszewski exchanged visits and signed the new agreement on Sino-Polish economic and trade relations. In September 1994, Polish Premier Waldemar Pavlak visited China and the two sides signed nine agreements and letters of intent on cooperation. Since then, NPC Standing Committee Vice Chairwoman Chen Muhua, NPC Standing Committee Vice Chairman Buhe, CPPCC National Committee Chairmen Li Ruihuan, CPPCC National Committee Vice Chairmen Ye Xuanping and Yang Rudai, Vice Premier Li Lanqing, Chiefs of General Staff of the People's Liberation Army Chi Haotian and Zhang Wannian have visited Poland at different times. Polish House Speaker Olecksi, Senate Speakers Stermakhovs and Struzik, Deputy Prime Minister and Financial Minister Kolodko, Chiefs of General Staff of the Polish Armed Forces Wilecki and Szumski have visited China at different times. These visits further expanded the cooperation between the two countries. In 1997, Polish President Kwasniewski paid a state visit to China. This was the first official visit to China by a Polish head of state for the past thirty-eight years. The heads of state of the two countries signed the Joint Communiqué of the People's Republic of China and the Republic of Poland. In June 2000, NPC Standing Committee Vice Chairman Buhe visited Poland for the second time. In December, Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan paid an official visit to Poland. In 2002, Wang Zhongyu, State Councilor, Secretary General of the State Council and Director of the National School of Administration, Li Changchun, Secretary of the Guangdong Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China (June) and Wu Yi, State Councilor (July) visited Poland successively. Zalucki, Polish Vice Foreign Minister?June?came to China for consultations between the foreign ministries of China and Poland. Piangtas, Chief of the General Staff of Poland (August) visited China.
II. Bilateral Economic and Trade Relations and Economic and Technological Cooperation
From 1950 to 1990, the Chinese and Polish Governments conducted their trade by keeping accounts under government agreements. The two countries' annual trade volume reached nearly US$1 billion in 1986, setting the highest record in history. In 1990, the two sides replaced this clearing-agreements trade with trade by payments in convertible foreign exchanges, and the annual trade volume decreased by a big margin from 0.322 billion U.S. dollars in 1990 to 0.144 billion dollars in 1991. Through joint efforts, the Sino-Polish annual trade volume started to rise again in 1992. The annual trade volume for the period 1996-2000 stood at 0.62 billion dollars, 0.705 billion dollars, 0.815 billion dollars, 0.86 billion dollars and 0.96 billion dollars in chronicle order. In 2000, China's trade surplus with Poland was 0.76 billion dollars. Up to the end of 1999, China's total investment in Poland was about US$45 million, ranking the 26th among the countries which had investment in Poland, and Poland's total investment under the agreements was 39.21 million dollars and the actual amount invested was 35.04 million dollars, ranking the 42nd among the countries having investment in China. Poland had 69 investment projects in China. In terms of actual investment Poland ranked the first among the countries in central and east Europe. In 2001, it was 1.242 billion dollars, up 29 percent than in 2000, including China's export of 1.016 billion dollars, up 18.1 percnet, and import of 0.226 billion dollars, up 127 percent. By the end of 2001, Poland's investment in China amounted to 48.15 million dollars in contractual capital and 43.35 million dollars in used capital.
The two countries signed the agreement on the ten-year economic and technological cooperation and decided to establish the inter-government committee of cooperation in economy, trade and science and technology in 1984 when the state councilor and minister of foreign economic relations and trade Chen Muhua visited Poland. In the first half of 1985, Polish Deputy Prime Minister and Chinese Vice Premier Li Peng exchanged visits and signed the long term trade agreement between the two countries for the period 1986-1990. In May 1988, Zbigniew Messner, a member of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Polish United Worker's Party and chairman of the Council of Ministers, paid a visit to China and the two sides signed the long-term development program of economic and scientific and technological cooperation, the agreement on mutual encouragement and protection of investment, the agreement on avoidance of double taxation and prevention of tax evasion and etc. In November 2000, the ninth meeting of the Sino-Polish Economic and Trade Mixed Committee was held in Beijing. In March 2002, a Chinese delegation headed by Zhou Keren, Vice Minister of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation, visited Poland and participated in the tenth routine meeting of the Bilateral Economic and Trade Mixed Commission.
III. Bilateral Exchanges and Cooperation in the Fields of Culture, Science and Technology and Education
Soon after the establishment of diplomatic relations, China and Poland started to exchange students. In March 1950, the Sino-Polish information exchange contract was signed. In April 1951, the two countries signed the cultural cooperation agreement, which was the first cultural agreement ever signed by China with an East European country. The two countries sent a cultural delegation every year on rotation to discuss and sign the annual execution program of the cultural cooperation between the two countries. Starting from 1959, the execution program was signed every two years, and a series of agreements, contracts and protocols was signed on cooperation in science, religion, radio, film, health and etc.
After the normalization of relations in the 1980s, the cooperation between the two countries in culture and education was also resumed and developed. The cultural exchanges and mutual visits by literary and art organizations were frequent in each year and the student exchange program was restarted. In 1997, Zhu Kaixuan, minister in charge of the State Education Commission, visited Poland and was received by Polish Prime Minister Cimoszewicz. In 1999, Polish Education Minister Handke paid a retrun visit to China.
In 1954, the two countries signed in Warsaw the Agreement on Scientific and Technological Cooperation Between the Governments of China and Poland and set up the Sino-Polish Joint Committee of Scientific and Technological Cooperation, which met every year to decide upon projects for bilateral cooperation, thus putting the scientific and technological cooperation between the two countries on the legal basis in the form of a government agreement and on the track of institutionalization. Stimulated by the Sino-Polish government agreement on scientific and technological cooperation, many scientific research institutes and enterprises in each country established direct links for cooperation with their counterparts in the other. As a result, a prosperous and stable relationship of cooperation was taking shape, which was characterized by diversification in levels, avenues, departments and forms and by a combination of efforts of the government and the people. Up to now, the Sino-Polish Joint Committee of Scientific and Technological Cooperation has held 29 meetings.
In June 2002, Celinski, Polish Minister of Culture, visited China.