WARSAW, Sept. 11 (Xinhua)
Roundup: Chinese Technology and Investment Inject New Momentum into Central and Eastern European Economic Transformation
By Wang Yihan and Guo Shuang
The 35th “Economic Forum” concluded on September 10 in Karpacz, a city in southwestern Poland, after three days of intensive discussions. The forum featured over 500 events and covered a wide range of topics including the economy, artificial intelligence, and sustainable development.
Participants at the forum observed that as Central and Eastern European countries accelerate efforts to identify new engines for economic growth, China’s strengths in technological innovation, industrial development, and investment offer significant opportunities for expanded collaboration between China and CEE countries.
For many years, Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) has capitalized on its competitive labor costs and integration into European manufacturing supply chains to become a key production hub for industries such as automotive, machinery, and electronics. A report released during the forum highlighted that between 2005 and 2025, the average annual economic growth rate in the 11 CEE countries covered in the report was approximately 3%, outperforming the growth rates of major Western European economies during the same period. However, rising wages, a shrinking working-age population, and challenges such as geopolitical risks and shifts in the global trade environment are increasingly restricting traditional growth models.
Experts and business leaders at the forum emphasized that CEE countries need to rely more heavily on technological advancements, industrial upgrades, and improved productivity to maintain economic growth. Expanding collaboration with China in technology and industry was seen as a key option to facilitate this transformation.
Former Polish Deputy Prime Minister Janusz Piechociński stressed that CEE countries must strike a balance between maintaining close ties with European markets and industrial systems, and developing pragmatic economic relations with a wider range of international partners, including China.
Professor Jarosław Witkowski of Wrocław University of Economics and Business stated that in the past, technology flowed mainly from Europe to China, but today Chinese innovation is increasingly entering the European market. China leads the world in green technologies, electric vehicles, and other fields, and is an important country that can help Central and Eastern European countries achieve their green transition in the future.
Pierre-Andréu, Senior Research Fellow at the Center for China Analysis, Asia Society Policy Institute emphasized the strategic role of China in both the European and global economies. He highlighted the need for Europe and China to explore new models of economic and industrial cooperation, particularly in emerging fields such as artificial intelligence and advanced automotive technologies.
China and Central and Eastern European countries are fast-tracking industrial collaboration, with landmark projects across sectors coming to fruition. In May 2025, BYD, a leading Chinese electric vehicle company, announced the establishment of its European headquarters and R&D center in Budapest, Hungary. In May this year, Serbia signed commercial agreements with multiple Chinese companies spanning automobiles, high-tech industries, and advanced manufacturing.
China and CEE countries are also deepening innovation-driven cooperation. On September 9, the 2026 China-CEEC Conference on Innovation Cooperation opened in Ningbo, China. During the event, both sides signed 11 agreements focusing on industry-academia-research collaboration and joint platform development. Additionally, the conference launched the second China-CEEC Youth Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition to further nurture creative talent and stimulate innovative solutions.
Talent training is regarded as an important foundation for deepening cooperation. Witkowski expressed the hope that in the future, more researchers, business managers, and economists would take part in practical cooperation between China and Central and Eastern European countries.
The “Economic Forum,” founded in 1992 and organized by the Institute of Eastern Studies Foundation in Poland, focuses primarily on European economic development, international security, and regional cooperation, and is one of the largest and most influential political and economic forums in Central and Eastern Europe.