China is praising the fact that the “first regular freight train between China and Poland arrived in Warsaw ... successfully delivering air conditioners, coffee machine accessories, egg beaters and other goods from China to markets thousands of miles away. The train will then return to China carrying a large number of European products. According to estimates, compared with previous sea transportation, the entire transportation time of this freight train will be saved by more than half, and the average freight rate per container will be reduced by about 20%.”
The importance of Poland is noted in the Global Times report: “Poland is a member of NATO and has close relations with the U.S. However, China has never asked Poland to take sides or refused bilateral cooperation. Poland has also been cautious in handling its relations with China under U.S. pressure.” Rather than Poland following the U.S. effort to poison relations with China, Global Times notes that “this imagined scenario of camp confrontation has not materialized. Under head-of-state diplomacy, China-Poland cooperation has become closer and more pragmatic.”
They point to Poland’s important role in the Belt and Road Initiative as “the gateway for China-Europe freight trains to enter the EU. Nearly 90% of China-Europe freight trains transit through Poland or transfer through Poland to various parts of Europe. Since the cooperation between China and Central and Eastern European countries was launched, Poland has become China’s largest trading partner in Central and Eastern Europe, and China has also become Poland’s largest economic partner in Asia.” They add that “China-Europe freight trains made 10,000 trips so far this year, breaking the 10,000 mark 19 days earlier than last year.”
