President of CAPDR, Ion ȘTEFANOVICI, at FERM 2025, on the need for a strategic approach to the Romania–China trade relationship
100 economic opportunities for the development of the Moldova Region on the A7 Highway route
REGIONAL ECONOMIC FORUM MOLDOVA 2025
19th Edition – Vatra Dornei, July 9–13, 2025
Thematic Panel:
Moldova’s Positioning in the Romania–China Economic Partnership
Speaker:
Ion Ștefanovici – President of CAPDR
Topic of the intervention:
“The need for a realistic, strategic and reform-oriented approach to Romania–China trade relations”
“There’s no point in deluding ourselves. Either we build on what we have, or we waste our time”
With this blunt and unapologetic statement, Ion Ștefanovici, President of the Center for Regional Development Planning and Analysis (CAPDR), opened his speech during the Panel 3 – Romania–China Foreign Trade at the Regional Economic Forum Moldova 2025, held in Vatra Dornei.
His speech was a plea for strategic realism, practical wisdom and administrative reform, drawing from personal experience in China as well as bold comparisons with Poland’s commercial success with Beijing.
“We don’t sweep the mess under the rug”
Ion Ștefanovici emphasized from the start that developing international trade relations must be approached with honesty and pragmatism:
“All the relationships we build are based on the principle: we don’t sweep the mess under the rug. There’s no point. We work with what we can build on and make the most of those advantages.”
In his view, Romania cannot afford the luxury of self-deception or diplomatic illusions. Wasting time and resources on projects without a solid foundation is a constant risk, and the antidote is a lucid analysis and clear direction.
The Polish lesson: investing in people and long-term strategy
A substantial part of the speech was dedicated to the example of Poland, which, according to Ion Ștefanovici, succeeded not just because of EU funds, but because it thought strategically, coherently and implemented real reforms.
“We look at Poland and say: they’re good with EU funds. But we don’t notice that they implement reforms, regionalization, simplification, reduce bureaucracy. That’s why they have 100% absorption of funds.”
A revealing moment for him was meeting in China a Polish diplomat who had been living in Shanghai for 20 years and spoke fluent Chinese.
“I was surprised – he was the only one in the room who spoke fluently. He was Poland’s trade representative. That’s how Warsaw thinks: to have people who perfectly understand Chinese realities. That’s why they get results.”
This type of approach – investing in people and in a deep understanding of external markets – is, in his opinion, what Romania fundamentally lacks.
Constanța Port versus Poland’s northern ports
Ion Ștefanovici made a painful but necessary comparison.
“With Constanța, during a time when we should have been booming, growing 1000%, we created a state within a state. Meanwhile, the Poles are doing business with the Chinese as a daily routine.”
In contrast, Poland is capitalizing on economic and logistical warfare opportunities in the region, developing spectacularly its northern ports – Gdansk, Gdynia – which have become attractive commercial hubs, even for Russian companies that shifted to Western structures.
Future Romanian branch in China – a strategic objective
The CAPDR president announced a clear intention to directly support the establishment of a Romanian branch in China, as an economic and cultural bridge.
“If we manage to set up this branch – and I believe it will happen, because I’ve made it a goal, and I usually achieve them – it will have two dimensions: an economic one, with economic missions to China, and a tourism dimension.”
He described this endeavor as “a zero-grade objective”, meaning top priority and non-negotiable. The initial group will be small, but aimed at “people who have vision, can capitalize on it and multiply it.”
“This country is actually another planet”
The speech was peppered with personal observations about the real face of China, beyond social media perceptions.
“When you get there, you’ll see that this country is actually another planet. I was skeptical too. I looked at TikTok, YouTube. They have nothing to do with reality.”
The CAPDR leader spoke about the lack of official propaganda, the openness and pragmatism of Chinese businesspeople, organizational democracy and the absence of ideological impositions.
“I sat at the table with people worth hundreds of millions, even billionaires – in tracksuits or shorts – extremely open and pragmatic. If there’s something to build, they build it. If not, they don’t waste time.”
Conclusion: Romania must choose between mimicking development and real action
The message conveyed by Ion Ștefanovici was clear: Romania has lessons to learn from those who act, not from those who only promise. If we want authentic trade relations with China, we must build real mechanisms, learn the language of the market, simplify bureaucracy, and send competent people where trade happens – not just diplomacy.
