Poland is now among the 20 largest economies
Poland is now among the 20 largest economies
波兰现已跻身全球二十大经济体之列
Poland’s economy has been transformed dramatically since the fall of communism in 1989. Once struggling, it is now one of Europe’s most successful. Poland’s GDP has risen significantly, and the economy has grown steadily since joining the European Union in 2004. 自1989年共产主义制度瓦解以来，波兰经济发生了翻天覆地的变化。它曾一度陷入困境，如今却已成为欧洲最成功的经济体之一。自2004年加入欧盟以来，波兰的国内生产总值（GDP）显著增长，经济保持稳步上升。
POZNAN, Poland (AP) — A generation ago, Poland rationed sugar and flour while its citizens were paid one-tenth what West Germans earned. Today, the economy of the country has edged past Switzerland to become the world’s 20th largest with more than $1 trillion in annual output. 波兰波兹南（美联社）——一代人以前，波兰还需要对糖和面粉实行配给制，而其国民的收入仅为西德人的十分之一。如今，该国经济已超越瑞士，以超过1万亿美元的年产值成为全球第20大经济体。
It’s a historic leap from the post-Communist ruins of 1989-90 to European growth champion, which economists say has lessons on how to bring prosperity to ordinary people — and that the Trump administration says should be recognized by Poland’s presence at a summit of the Group of 20 leading economies later this year. 从1989-90年共产主义制度崩溃后的废墟，到如今成为欧洲的增长冠军，这是一次历史性的飞跃。经济学家认为，波兰的经验为如何给普通民众带来繁荣提供了借鉴。特朗普政府也表示，波兰应受邀参加今年晚些时候举行的二十国集团（G20）峰会，以认可其成就。
The transformation is reflected in people like Joanna Kowalska, an engineer from Poznan, a city of around 500,000 people midway between Berlin and Warsaw. She returned home after five years in the U.S. “I get asked often if I’m missing something by coming back to Poland, and, to be honest, I feel it’s the other way around,” Kowalska said. “We are ahead of the United States in so many areas.” 这种转变在乔安娜·科瓦尔斯卡（Joanna Kowalska）这样的人身上得到了体现。她是一名来自波兹南的工程师，这座城市位于柏林和华沙之间，人口约50万。在美国生活五年后，她回到了祖国。“人们经常问我回到波兰是否会错过什么，老实说，我觉得情况恰恰相反，”科瓦尔斯卡说，“我们在许多领域都领先于美国。”
Kowalska works at the Poznan Supercomputing and Networking Center, which is developing the first artificial intelligence factory in Poland and integrating it with a quantum computer, one of 10 on the continent financed by a European Union program. 科瓦尔斯卡目前在波兹南超级计算与网络中心工作。该中心正在开发波兰首个“人工智能工厂”，并将其与一台量子计算机集成，这是欧盟项目资助的欧洲十台量子计算机之一。
Kowalska worked for Microsoft in the U.S. after graduating from the Poznan University of Technology, in a job she saw as a “dream come true.” But she missed having a “sense of mission,” she said. “Especially when it comes to artificial intelligence, the technology started developing so rapidly in Poland,” Kowalska said. “So it was very tempting to come back.” 科瓦尔斯卡从波兹南理工大学毕业后，曾在美国微软公司工作，她当时认为那份工作是“梦想成真”。但她说，她怀念那种“使命感”。“特别是在人工智能领域，这项技术在波兰开始飞速发展，”科瓦尔斯卡说，“所以回国非常有吸引力。”
Breaking out of poverty 摆脱贫困
The guest invitation to the G20 summit is mostly symbolic. No guest country has been promoted to full member since the original G20 met at the finance minister level in 1999, and that would take a consensus decision of all the members. Moreover, the original countries were chosen not just by gross domestic product rank, but by their “systemic significance” in the global economy. 受邀参加G20峰会主要具有象征意义。自1999年G20首次以财长级别会议形式召开以来，还没有任何受邀国被提升为正式成员，这需要所有成员国达成共识。此外，最初的成员国选择标准不仅是GDP排名，还包括其在全球经济中的“系统性重要性”。
But the gesture reflects a statistical truth: In 35 years — a little less than one person’s working lifetime — Poland’s per capita GDP rose to $55,340 in 2025, or 85% of the EU average. That’s up from $6,730 in 1990, or 38% of the EU average and now roughly equal to Japan’s $52,039, according to International Monetary Fund figures measured in today’s dollars and adjusted for Poland’s lower cost of living. 但这一姿态反映了一个统计事实：在35年里——不到一个人职业生涯的时间——波兰的人均GDP在2025年升至55,340美元，达到欧盟平均水平的85%。根据国际货币基金组织（IMF）按现值美元计算并根据波兰较低生活成本调整后的数据，这一数字高于1990年的6,730美元（当时仅为欧盟平均水平的38%），目前已大致相当于日本的52,039美元。
Poland’s economy has grown an average 3.8% a year since joining the EU in 2004, easily beating the European average of 1.8%. It wasn’t simply one factor that helped Poland break out of the poverty trap, says Marcin Piątkowski of Warsaw’s Kozminski University and author of a book on the country’s economic rise. 自2004年加入欧盟以来，波兰经济年均增长3.8%，轻松超过了欧洲1.8%的平均水平。华沙科兹明斯基大学教授、波兰经济崛起一书的作者马尔钦·皮亚特科夫斯基（Marcin Piątkowski）表示，并非单一因素帮助波兰摆脱了贫困陷阱。
One of the most important factors was rapidly building a strong institutional framework for business, he said. That included independent courts, an anti-monopoly agency to ensure fair competition, and strong regulation to keep troubled banks from choking off credit. As a result, the economy wasn’t hijacked by corrupt practices and oligarchs, as happened elsewhere in the post-Communist world. 他指出，最重要的因素之一是迅速为商业建立了强大的制度框架。这包括独立的法院、确保公平竞争的反垄断机构，以及防止陷入困境的银行切断信贷的强有力监管。因此，波兰经济没有像其他后共产主义国家那样被腐败行为和寡头所劫持。
Poland also benefited from billions of euros in EU aid, both before and after it joined the bloc in 2004 and gained access to its huge single market. Above all, there was the broad consensus, from across the political spectrum, that Poland’s long-term goal was joining the EU. 波兰还受益于欧盟提供的数十亿欧元援助，无论是在2004年加入欧盟之前还是之后，它都获得了进入欧盟庞大单一市场的机会。最重要的是，波兰各政治派别达成了广泛共识，即波兰的长期目标是加入欧盟。
“Poles knew where they were going,” Piątkowski said. “Poland downloaded the institutions and the rules of the game, and even some cultural norms that the West spent 500 years developing.” “波兰人知道他们要去向何方，”皮亚特科夫斯基说，“波兰‘下载’了西方花费500年才发展起来的制度、游戏规则，甚至是一些文化规范。”
As oppressive as it was, communism contributed by breaking down old social barriers and opening higher education to factory and farmworkers who had no chance before. A post-Communist boom in higher education means half of young people now have degrees. “Young Poles are, for instance, better educated than young Germans,” Piatkowski said, but earn half what Germans do. That’s “an unbeatable combination” for attracting investors, he said. 尽管共产主义制度具有压迫性，但它通过打破旧的社会壁垒，为以前没有机会的工厂工人和农民提供了接受高等教育的机会，从而做出了贡献。后共产主义时代高等教育的繁荣意味着现在有一半的年轻人拥有学位。“例如，波兰年轻人的受教育程度比德国年轻人更高，”皮亚特科夫斯基说，但他们的收入只有德国人的一半。他认为，对于吸引投资者来说，这是一个“无与伦比的组合”。
Success of an electric bus company 电动巴士公司的成功
Solaris, a company founded in 1996 in Poznan by Krzysztof Olszewski, is one of the leading manufacturers of electric buses in Europe with a market share of around 15%. Its story shows one hallmark of Poland’s success: entrepreneurship, or the willingness to take risks and build something new. Solaris是一家由克日什托夫·奥尔谢夫斯基（Krzysztof Olszewski）于1996年在波兹南创立的公司，它是欧洲领先的电动巴士制造商之一，市场份额约为15%。它的故事展示了波兰成功的一个标志：企业家精神，即承担风险并创造新事物的意愿。