China and Turkey go for $100 billion trade target
BEIJING, China: Turkey and China discussed bilateral trade during the meeting of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan with Chinese president Xi Jingping and they have set target of $100 billion in trading volume and will invite businessmen to visit both countries.
Both leaders also touched sensitive issues including Uighur Muslims.
According to Chinese and Turkish media, both leaders had discussed issues surrounding China’s Muslim population.
Turkey has voiced concerns over reports that members of China’s Muslim community had been banned from fasting – suggestions that led to protests against Beijing in Turkey and flag burning by nationalist Turks.
The issue was a topic at the meeting, said the sources who did not wish to be named for reasons of confidentiality.
They added that Erdogan’s plan to meet with representatives from China’s Uighur and Hui Muslim communities was welcomed by Chinese officials.
“Turkey’s sensitivity about Chinese territorial integrity was mentioned in the meeting, as well as not accepting any terrorist incidents inside China,” the source said.
Chinese state media has reported that “Muslim terrorists” have orchestrated attacks on police stations and other symbols of the state in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, which many Turks refer to as East Turkestan.
Prior to delegate talks in the Great Hall of People, Erdogan told media that both countries had paved the way for strategic cooperation in 2010 and were now “ready to put those plans into practice.”
“We took the first step in 2010 with China with a strategic alliance, and we are now in the practice phase. We are looking at our relations with China from a strategic way,” he said.
“This visit will strengthen the understanding between our nations and help cement friendship between our people,” he added.
The three-day trip is Erdogan’s second diplomatic trip to the country, following a previous visit in 2012 as prime minister.
In 2010, the two countries adopted a “Joint Declaration on the Establishment and Development of the Strategic Relationship of Cooperation,” and bilateral trade — at $1 billion in 2000 — is now estimated to have surpassed more then $24 billion.
President Xi Jingping highlighted the importance of such economic relations remaining on a firm footing Wednesday, saying that he hopes they will continue to be “rich in content.”
The countries signed several agreements over the course of the day, among them a Memorandum of Understanding on Establishing a Cooperation Committee between Turkey and China on Deputy Prime Ministers’ Level, and a Development Plan for Middle and Long Term about Mutual Encouraging and Protection of Investment Between Turkey and China.
The sources told Dispatch News Desk news Agency that Erdogan and Xi Jingping have now targeted $100 billion in trading volume and will invite businessmen to visit both countries.
Erdogan began his visit with a trip to the Monument to the People’s Heroes in Tiananmen Square where he placed a wreath.
After an hour-long closed door meeting with Prime Minister Li Keqiang, Erdogan headed to the National People’s Congress for a 30-minute meet with Zhang Dejiang, the head of the country’s parliament and the ruling Communist Party’s third ranked leader.
Accompanying Erdogan were Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, Health Minister Mehmet Muezzinoglu, Transport Minister Feridun Bilgin, Economy Minister Nihat Zeybekci and Energy Minister Taner Yildiz.
On leaving China on July 30, Erdogan is scheduled to fly to Indonesia, where he will meet President Joko Widodo and participate in a Turkey-Indonesia Business Forum.
