Trade and Procurement Reform in Poland and China: Responding to the Next Globalization Wave of Interdependent Economies

Abstract

During the recent decades, China has achieved phenomenal economic growth - truly an unprecedented “development miracle”, as it is at times called.  Since the initiation of its reforms and an open door policy in 1978, China’s gross domestic product (GDP) has been consistently growing at an average annual rate ranging from 7-11 percent. In 2010, it has surpassed Japan and has become the world’s second-largest economy.   China's impressive sustainable economic growth coupled with pragmatic development policies and increasing integration into a global market make her a key player in the international trade arena.   China has an overall trade surplus not only with Poland and the US but also with many advanced and emerging economies of the world.  Over the period of the last decade, China’s exports and imports have been growing at a faster rate than the rate of world trade.   While China’s trade with the rest of the world has deepened, the structural and geographical patterns of its trade have also dramatically changed.  Most importantly, the share of imports by industrial countries accounted for by China has not only diversified but also has become more sophisticated.  Analysts and policy observers contend that the process of globalization will continue to accelerate and will in fact benefit China more than many other economies that are less export-oriented and less competitive.  Poland is still in the process of building a mature competitive and entrepreneurial market system, which China is in the process of perfecting.    Poland’s huge and growing trade imbalance with China is now posing an enormous challenge to the economic performance of the country buying more goods than it is capable to sell.  Sovereign debt of Poland, which also grows rapidly, poses a threat to its economy, while limited innovative solutions, such as creation of Special Economic Zones, (SEZ) are occurring at a rather slow pace in Poland in recent years.