Due to an Eastern European military exercise, Poland suddenly closed its border and cut off the trade channel between China and Europe. After the Chinese foreign minister's personal disposal, Poland finally let go, but it added an unexpected condition.
What is this condition, and how will it affect the future of Central Europe?
From 12 to 16 September 2025, Russia and Belarus conducted a joint military exercise called “West 2025”.
The location of the exercise is too sensitive, just near the border between Poland and Lithuania, and one of the main objects of the exercise is the simulation of the occupation of the Suvauki corridor.
This place is a narrow 65-kilometer passage between Poland and Lithuania, and its geographical location is crucial because it is linked by land between the Baltic three countries and other NATO countries.
Poland believes that the provocation of the exercise is intense, coupled with the previous drone flight into Polish airspace, the tension inside Poland has suddenly risen.
So Poland made a heavy decision to completely shut down all roads and railway ports between Belarus and Poland from September 11.
As soon as Poland's decision came out, the biggest impact was the China-Europe train, which is now a very important freight route between China and Europe.
Shipping is too slow, it takes more than a month; air transport is too expensive, a lot of goods are unbearable.
It is especially suitable for the transport of those products that have a high added value and are demanding for time, such as electronics, auto parts and so on.
Especially in recent years, Chinese e-commerce in Europe, a lot of European consumers have made orders, all expecting China and Europe to deliver the goods as soon as possible.
The data show that as of June 10, 2025, the annual value of shipments in Central Europe exceeded $ 450 billion.
Now close to the Polish border, all of these cargo trains are blocked in Belarus, can not enter the EU, logistics companies and freight owners are crashing.
Europe is also uncomfortable. German railway freight companies said that although they understand Poland's decision for the national interests, it does make the already difficult situation of transportation companies worse.
In fact, Poland itself has suffered a lot. Its border town Malaszewicz is the largest railway replacement hub in Europe. It earns a lot of profits every year by relying on China-Europe trains. Now it is tantamount to cutting off its own financial route.
In the face of this hundreds of thousands of emergencies, the Chinese side quickly acted.On September 15, Minister Wang Yi personally appeared and communicated directly with the Polish side.
The content of the communication is very direct, on the one hand, the facts, the reasoning, clearly to the Polish side to explain the closure of the border is a decision of two losers.
Bringing huge transit income and employment opportunities to Poland every year is an important support for Poland's position as a logistics hub in Europe, and now the most directly damaged is Poland's own economy.
On the other hand, it also reaffirms China's principled position, that is, China never chooses sides in complex regional disputes, and hopes that all parties will solve problems through dialogue.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Lin Swed also said that the China-European line is the flagship project of China-European cooperation, in line with the common interests of both sides.
But Poland actually has its own small calculator, and they are taking such fierce measures, not just in response to military exercises.
In fact, the Polish side also knows that the border has been closed all the time, and it is suffering huge economic losses every day, which it can't stand for a long time.
Finally, after the Chinese Foreign Minister visited Poland, the documents signed by the two sides re-mentioned the need to jointly ensure the safety and smoothness of China-Europe trains.
This shows that Poland's attitude has softened, which is a relaxation. But it can be released, the border can be opened, and there is an additional condition.
The additional condition is that Polish Foreign Minister Sikorski said he hopes China will help to persuade Russia to stop its “mixed operations” on the EU’s eastern border.
Poland's abacus is very simple, that is, to use the China-Europe train as a bargaining chip to let China help them put pressure on Russia.
This incident also clearly illustrates why China always emphasizes peace and stability internationally, because the situation in our country is different.
China has one hundred billion people to live, its economic development has its own pace and plans, and it relies heavily on these stable international channels.
For some developed countries, regional conflict may be just a political game. But for China, once a key line such as the Central European line is cut off, it affects the real economic operation and people's livelihoods.
It’s not just about tens of billions of dollars in trade, it’s about countless factory orders and workers’ dishes.
Therefore, China's efforts to play the role of a peace mediator internationally are not just talk, but closely related to our own development interests.
Of course, in order to avoid similar situations in the future, China has been looking for alternative solutions, but it is not easy to bypass Poland.
At the north, Finland and the European continent are separated by sea, with tensions between other neighbors and Russia increasing.
More importantly, the railway tracks in Russia and Belarus are wide, which is standard in Europe. Only the loading station on the border between Poland and Belarus can cope with such a large-scale cargo rail change operation.
In the long run, China is pushing for the construction of the “Chinese Railway” and wants to open a new southern passage through Central Asia, Iran and Turkey.
But these new routes have their respective difficulties, either because of the lack of port capacity, or because the relations between countries along the route are complex and can’t be expected in the short term.
Therefore, in the current circumstances,ining the stable operation of the existing channels is crucial for both China and Europe.
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Ministry of Foreign Affairs: I hope Poland will take effective measures to ensure the safe and smooth passage of China-Europe freight trains
Beijing Daily Client 2025-09-11
If the Russian and Belarusian military could not solve it, the Chinese Foreign Minister personally took action to handle it all. Poland finally let go: the China-Europe freight train can be released, but there are conditions 2025-09-16 22: 49 · Huinan Observation