- What is definitely a problem is that the whole narrative that comes with Polish-Chinese relations is full of different extremes - said Patrycja Pendrakowska in an interview with Automation Trader.
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Our guest has been dealing with Poland's presence in Asia for years, with a vast knowledge of political, business and, of course, economic dependencies. All these research activities are, of course, conducted within the think tank of the Boy's Institute.
Opportunities and threats
So why so much uncertainty and different extreme opinions? Why are Polish-Chinese relations so ambiguous? - On the one hand, we have those who see China as something of a flywheel for Polish development,' Pendrakowska continued. - On the other hand, there are really a lot of concerns about security in Southeast Asia, the Indo-Pacific, the Gulf of Taiwan or, somewhat more broadly, China's support for military action in the context of Russia - she added.
In the opinion of our expert, it would be necessary to approach this topic coolly and put all possible benefits on the table, but also keep in mind the potential threats that lurk for Poland beyond the Great Wall.
- These relationships are very difficult, there is no fooling ourselves. There are a lot of threats, there are opportunities, there are also challenges, and we have been talking about this in our country for decades. From my perspective, one of the main problems is certainly that we don't have enough data to interest entrepreneurs - Patrycja Pendrakowska admitted.
We lack data
- A simple example is, for example, specific data on customs flows. The revenues that we as Poles have from trade with China, from the fact that we have been developing the New Silk Road or the Northern Corridor over the last decade - she added.
This brings up the aforementioned problem that Poland as a country does not have a clear and lucid strategy for cooperation with China. Such agendas are spelled out in other countries, so as a major player on the European arena, we should catch up on this as soon as possible.
- Poland needs a broader, clear, transparent and accessible strategy towards China. This is something that Germany, for example, has done, i.e. it has prepared a document that marks those fields of cooperation that would be worth strengthening and marks those where there are potential red flags - she continued.
Working from the ground up
It is worth remembering, however, that a strategy is one thing, but something completely different is what happens afterwards and how these guidelines are put into practice. Here again, it is worth looking at how Germany does this.
- Germany as a country that in Europe has some of these innovations, technologies or these so-called hidden champions that operate in an extremely professional way or have products of very high quality. And they decided to carve out a slice from the state budget to set up special centres at major universities or in major urban centres to collect information on scientific cooperation with China. And it was a simple top-down decision that went along with the strategy - she concluded.
Poland therefore still has a lot of catching up to do in terms of relations with China. If we want to grow in business and economy beyond the Great Wall, we have to start with the absolute basics.
