Belt and road cooperation marks a new chapter on the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations between china and turkey
THE YEAR 2021 MARKS THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY In recent years, under the leadership of Presi-
of diplomatic relations between China and Tur- dent Xi Jinping and President Recep Tayyip Er-
key. Over this period, thanks to the joint efforts dogan, bilateral relations have been consistently
of the governments and people of the two count- improving, as marked by a consensus on mutual
ries, China-Turkey relations have overcome nu- respect for each other’s core interests and major
merous international challenges and entered a concerns. For the 50th anniversary of diplomatic
mature and stable stage of development. Espe- relations, the two leaders had a telephone call and
cially since establishing a strategic cooperative conveyed congratulatory messages to each other,
relationship in 2010, cooperation between the positively evaluated the achievements of bilateral
two countries in fields such as politics, economy, cooperation in various fields, and determined the
people-to-people exchanges, culture, science and direction of development of bilateral relations for
technology has developed rapidly. the new period.
Growing mutual political trust between In March 2021, Wang Yi, State Councilor
China and Turkey has provided a solid guaran- and Minister of Foreign Affairs, visited Turkey.
tee for further deepening bilateral relations. The Chinese and Turkish foreign ministers extensi-
two countries’ leaders have always planned and vely exchanged views on promoting the healthy
grasped China-Turkey relations from a strategic and stable development of the strategic coopera-
and long-term perspective. The two countries tive relationship between China and Turkey.
firmly support each other in safeguarding their The fruitful results of pragmatic cooperation
national sovereignty, independence and terri- between China and Turkey have provided signi-
torial integrity and in pursuing a development ficant benefits for the people of both countries.
path in line with their own national conditions. China-Turkey cooperation in areas of trade, in-
*Spots have been added by BRIQ.
vestment and finance is progressing steadily. exchange between the two civilizations for thou-
China has become Turkey’s second-largest tra- sands years. Since establishing diplomatic rela-
ding partner as it has actively taken a series of tions, people-to-people and cultural exchanges
measures to increase imports from Turkey. Hi- between China and Turkey continue to expand.
gh-quality Turkish agricultural products such as The two countries have concluded 26 pairs of sis-
cherries, pistachios, dairy, aquatic and poultry ter provinces or sister cities, and thanks to acti-
have been welcomed by Chinese consumers. vities such as the Year of Culture and the Year of
Between January and September 2021, bilateral Tourism, people from each country know each
trade volume increased by 44.1% to reach $24.49 other better than ever. The Yunus Emre Turkish
billion, and China’s non-financial direct invest- Cultural Center was officially opened in Beijing,
ment in Turkey reached $160 million with an while China opened 4 Confucius Institutes in
annual increase of 647.9% compared to the pre- Turkey, becoming a window for Turkish people
vious year. Financial cooperation between China to learn Chinese and Chinese culture. China and
and Turkey has deepened further, and the scale Turkey also have more than ten universities offe-
of local currency swaps has reached 35 billion ring courses in the other’s language.
yuan. In the face of the Covid-19 outbreak, China
and Turkey have stood by other and overcome existing difficulties together and have carried
The ancient Silk Road represents a out active and fruitful close cooperation in pro-
bridge for communication and exchange viding anti-epidemic materials and sharing ex-
between the two civilizations for perience in fighting the pandemic. China’s Sino-
thousands of years. vac has cumulatively provided a large number of
vaccines to Turkey at its most urgent moment, accumulating more than 70 million doses, whi- In just a few years of entering the Turkish ch has greatly helped Turkey fight the pandemic market, Bank of China and Industrial and Comand created a new highlight for China-Turkey mercial Bank of China have provided tens of relations. billions of dollars of financing support for jo- The process of harmonizing the developint projects and local projects between the two ment strategies of China and Turkey has reached countries. China and Turkey are actively exploa high point in the process of high-quality joint ring new ideas and measures to optimize their construction of the Belt and Road. Turkey is one trade structure and enhance their economic and of the first countries to support the joint consttrade cooperation in order to seize the opporturuction of the Belt and Road. President Erdoğan, nities of the development of the digital economy
and fully release the potential of cooperation who attended the first Belt and Road Forum for
between the two countries in the areas of trade International Cooperation, emphasized in his
in services, digital economy and e-commerce. opening speech that the Belt and Road Initiative
People-to-people and cultural exchanges is a bridge of friendship that will accelerate the
between China and Turkey, which are becoming development of Turkey-China relations. In No-
increasingly close, have prepared a solid pub- vember 2015, President Xi Jinping and President
lic base for friendship. China and Turkey have Erdoğan witnessed the signing of the memoran-
a long history of friendship and the ancient Silk dum of understanding between the two govern-
Road represents a bridge for communication and ments during the G20 Antalya summit to align
the Belt and Road Initiative and the “Middle
Corridor” strategy. This has been a driving force such as the Ankara-Istanbul High Speed Ra-
for the two countries to deepen their mutually ilway Phase II Project, the Ankara 500MW
beneficial cooperation and share the benefits, Photovoltaic Industrial Park and the Tuz Gölü
and marks a new chapter in the deep-rooted Underground Natural Gas Storage Project.
friendship between China and Turkey, which Construction of the Hunutlu Thermal Power
began with the ancient Silk Road. In July 2021, Plant, China’s largest Belt and Road project in
President Xi Jinping, in a phone call with Presi- Turkey, is progressing smoothly. All of these
dent Erdoğan, reiterated that China and Turkey projects have created a large number of local
will strengthen the alignment of the Belt and jobs. Huawei has established the second largest
Road Initiative and the “Middle Corridor” stra- R&D center abroad in Turkey, while smartp-
tegy, pointing the way for the two countries to hone brands such as Xiaomi, Vivo, Oppo, and
further deepen cooperation and promote com- white goods giant Haier have also invested in
mon development. factories in the country, contributing to Turkey’s
technological development and innovation. The year 2021 marks the 100th anniver-
“Iron Silk Road”, which spans across sary of the founding of the Communist Party of
the Asian continent from one end to China (CPC). Xi Jinping, General Secretary of
the other, has re-connected China and the CPC Central Committee, proudly declared
Turkey and ensured the rapid circulation at the Party’s centenary ceremony that we have
of goods between the two. realized the first centenary goal and are marc-
hing in confident strides toward the second centenary goal, which aims to realize the vision of
Cooperation between the two countries a great modern socialist country in all respects.
for the joint construction of the Belt and Road The Turkish people have also put forward “Visi-
has yielded productive results. For example, the on 2023-2053” and are making efforts to realize
China-Europe Freight Train “Chang’an” conne- the “2023 Goals”.
cting China’s Xi’an to Turkey’s Istanbul, opened As China and Turkey realize their great dre-
regular traffic in both directions. This “Iron Silk ams, the two countries will face more opportu-
Road”, which spans across the Asian continent nities and broader space for development. Stan-
from one end to the other, has re-connected ding at a historical starting point, we hope that
China and Turkey and ensured the rapid circu- China and Turkey will understand and respect
lation of goods between the two. Turkey’s Kum- each other’s core interests and major concerns,
port Port plays an important role in the Belt and strengthen mutual political trust and strategic
Road. After a consortium of Chinese companies cooperation, manage contradictions and diffe-
bought 65% of the port, the original Turkish rences appropriately, protect the political foun-
team remained completely in place, a local ma- dation of bilateral relations together, extensively
nagement model continued, and the container explore intersection points of interest, achieve
capacity and revenues of the port gradually inc- new fruits in pragmatic cooperation in various
reased. fields by accelerating the high-quality joint cons-
Industrial development of the two countries truction of the Belt and Road, and make intense
in such areas as infrastructure and renewable efforts for developing China-Turkey strategic co-
energy is constantly being harmonized. Chine- operative relationship and building a community
se companies are implementing mega-projects with a shared future for mankind.