Polish Sinologist bridging the cultural divide

That interest in China meant two spells studying at the historic Peking University in Beijing, which pretty much sealed his determination to help develop ties between the two countries.

Gaca's master's thesis was on Chinese character writing, and he then decided to specialize in one of China's minority languages, embarking on a PhD in the Naxi language called Dongba, one of the few languages which uses pictograms.

From 2001 to 2007, he acted as deputy director of the department of Sinology at Adam Mickiewicz University, and he then helped to establish Poland's second Confucius Institute, nonprofit public institutions that popularize Chinese language and culture, becoming its first director.

He says that understanding a country's culture and arts is by far the best way to get to know its people, its past and its future.

"Culture is a fantastic tool with which to facilitate communication, because messages can be passed and understood without the need to overcome language barriers," Gaca says.

He is convinced that strong cultural links between countries also influence progress in others areas too, such as business and economic cooperation.

"An appreciation and awareness of each other's culture goes such a long way to helping people from what can be very different nations to get on and in helping to cement stronger ties in many areas."