EN
The article aims to present the 1929 report by Konstanty Symonolewicz, Polish Consul in Harbin, whose short biography (he was a famous Polish sinologist) is also included. The article discusses the financial situation of the Polish diaspora living in Manchuria in the first half of the 20th century. In the mid 1920s, approximately 5000 Poles lived in China, including almost 3000 in Harbin. They went back to Poland and, towards the end of the decade, the Polish diaspora in Harbin amounted to approximately 2000 persons. Many worked on the railway and at the Polish sugar refinery in Acheng. The wealthiest Pole, Wladyslaw Kowalski, leased huge forest areas and conducted extensive business activity. Symonolewicz's report is an insightful description of economic and political realities in northern Manchuria after the fall of the Russian domination and before the Japanese invasion. It reveals the decline of the Polish economic 'power' in the region, which, just like the Russian and then the Japanese powers - gave in to the dominance of the Chinese authorities.