Türkiye and China are discussing how to cooperate on regional challenges, including the war in Gaza and Russia's war in Ukraine, Chinese ambassador to Türkiye Liu Shaobin said Tuesday.
Speaking to journalists in the capital, Ankara, Shaobin said that the two countries must “strengthen cooperation in all areas” and underlined the importance of strategic cooperation. He said that Türkiye and China’s joint responsibility is to play a greater role as two critical and influential countries in their regions.
Shaobin pointed out that bilateral ties have greatly developed in recent times as contact on the official level, on the level of local administrations and between peoples has gained pace.
Similar to Türkiye, China is advocating a two-state solution for Palestine, Shaobin said, reiterating that the country hosted representatives from Fatah and Hamas recently.
Adding that the parties "had a deep and sincere meeting to advance the internal unity and peace" of Palestine, Shaobin said: "Both sides expressed political narratives about achieving this peace through dialogue. They exchanged ideas on many concrete issues and made positive progress."
Shaobin further said that China supports Palestine being admitted as soon as possible as an official member of the United Nations.
On the Iraqi Development Road project that Qatar, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Türkiye and Iraq signed last week, the ambassador said that China is closely following the projects.
“China is supporting projects that increase connectivity and enhance trade relations,” he said.
Shaobin also pointed out that the two countries signed a memorandum of understanding in 2015 to align China's Belt and Road Initiative and Türkiye's Middle Corridor Initiative.
The Trans-Caspian East-West-Middle Corridor Initiative, dubbed the "Middle Corridor" in short, is one of the most important parts of efforts to revive the ancient Silk Road trade route that connects East Asia and Europe.
Over both rail and road, the Middle Corridor passes through Georgia, Azerbaijan and the Caspian Sea via the Caspian transit corridor, followed by Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan or Kazakhstan, and on to China.
Diplomatic relations between Türkiye and China were established in 1971. In 2010, relations were elevated to the level of strategic cooperation.
Shaobin also touched upon economic developments in China as well as bilateral trade relations with Türkiye.
He said that China aims for the sustainable development of its economy and underlined that his country’s economic potential is high while its foundation is solid.
Shaobin said that the current 400 million middle-class population is expected to increase to 800 million in the upcoming period while the country steps up efforts to enter new sectors with a quality workforce.
Shaobin also said that Türkiye and China have a bilateral trade volume of $50 billion (TL 1.62 trillion) and that work is ongoing to overcome the imbalance in bilateral trade.
“We can work together to create a better investment environment,” he added.
