STARCH EXPO 20256

Our friends are faced with the greatest misfortune.

We offer them our sincere sympathy and concern. We in Europe, follow every hour and every day the brave fight of the Chinese nation against the epidemic. Poland’s President Andrzej Duda in his very personal and emotional message to President Xi Jinping emphasized that he has been closely following the development of events related to the spread of the disease and appreciates the Chinese leader’s prompt actions “which no doubt prevented the further uncontrolled development of the epidemic and thus saved many lives, both in the People’s Republic of China and in other countries.”

The COVID-19 epidemic has become a common concern of the international community. Since the first infection was diagnosed in Wuhan, Hubei province, in December 2019, the novel coronavirus has been spreading at a speed even beyond the expectation of medical experts.

Speaking for many, President Duda said, “I am impressed by the efficient organization of the activities of the relevant medical services, who in this emergency situation immediately hurried to help all those in need.”

Indeed, China’s efforts and determination are obvious. These actions deserve support and respect. The Chinese government has adopted the most comprehensive and resolute preventive measures.

Some observers might be astonished by the scale of the measures and the determination with which they are being put into effect.

We believe that no matter how unpleasant and daunting the tasks undertaken by the authorities may have been, such strong quarantining of key areas are still the most effective means to contain the epidemic; otherwise, the whole nation and even the world would be subject to even greater public health risks.

Second, the Chinese nation is fighting on the front line not only for itself, but on behalf of the whole global community.

Third, frankly, we can’t imagine any other government and any other nation that would have been able to undertake such actions within such an unbelievably short period of time.

Actions that make much more sense than the oversensitive reactions of some countries that have blocked the international traffic of goods and people and unnecessarily caused extra panic.

Meanwhile, we can’t stop contemplating what will be the effects of the novel coronavirus epidemic on the Chinese economy and global economy.

There is a little doubt the service sector in China, especially consumer industries such as tourism, catering, entertainment and logistics will suffer first of all. The manufacturing sector, particularly the automobile and electronics industries, due to the delayed resumption of operations, will encounter some temporary problems too. which may to some extent disrupt the global industrial chains, enough to say that China is the major sourcing place for the key Poland’s industries: household appliances, pharmaceuticals and automobiles.

Nevertheless, the resilience of China’s economy cannot be underestimated. We believe that in the medium and long term, China’s economy will manifest a strong revival trend and with the support of the international community, the Chinese nation and their government will ultimately conquer the epidemic and China’s economy will remain robust.

“No country is an lonely island . We have common duties and common destiny”, President Xi has said. The epidemic is a great test of the Chinese authorities efficiency but equally a powerful and magnificent test of nations solidarity and cooperation.

Solidarity with China.

The author is former president of the Polish Information and Foreign Investment Agency, non-resident senior fellow of the Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies, Renmin University of China.