Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan met his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi on the second day of his visit to China as his guest. The two ministers reaffirmed strengthened ties between their countries during the meeting, which came a few months after the Chinese minister met Fidan in Ankara, shortly after both took office.

Fidan said good relations between Türkiye and China would contribute to regional and global peace, prosperity and stability. He stated that Türkiye and China’s views on many aspects of international affairs overlapped and both advocated dominance of a more fair understanding of the international system.

The Turkish minister said Türkiye was closely following the developments in the Asia-Pacific region and their geopolitical repercussions. "We believe that challenges in the Asia-Pacific require efficient cooperation based on constructive dialogue and joint priorities," he said.

Fidan welcomed China’s sensitivity on the Palestine issue and said they appreciated China’s solidarity with Palestinians and strong support for a two-state solution. He underlined that it was very important that Chinese President Xi Jinping called for a comprehensive and efficient international peace conference for a solution in Palestine.

The Turkish minister’s visit comes at a time when China raised its voice about the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. This week, the Chinese president called for a Middle East peace conference. Beijing has kept a relatively low profile amid the conflict, unlike its major rival, the United States, which has fervently endorsed Israel amid brutal massacres of Palestinians. Türkiye, for its part, leads diplomatic efforts to end the conflict and for a two-state solution. Fidan has been busy with a diplomatic blitz in cooperation with counterparts from the Arab League and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) to that extent.

Minister Fidan said they would work with China for a cease-fire in Gaza, uninterrupted, safe delivery of humanitarian aid to Gazans and a two-state solution.

Fidan said that during his visit, he also extended President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s invitation for Xi Jinping to Türkiye this year.

Fidan also spoke about Kashgar and Urumqi cities in Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, two "ancient Turkic Islamic cities contributing to China’s cultural wealth." "These cities act as a bridge between China and the Turkic world, China and the Islamic world. They are symbols of our ancient friendship and neighborhood. The togetherness of communities and people is the greatest wealth of strong states. I will be pleased to witness the historic and cultural wealth of this region," he said. Türkiye and China enjoy close ties, although the issues relating to the rights of the Uyghur community in China’s Xinjiang overshadowed relations in the past. Fidan will visit two cities on Wednesday.

Fidan stressed that Türkiye fully supported China’s territorial integrity and political sovereignty. "We support China against armed terrorist groups. We do not approve international initiatives seeking to incite strife in China and to stop China’s economic development," he said. The minister added that it was highly alarming for world peace, stability and development that there were attempts to portray China’s economic competitiveness in a different way and force it to create a new global fight. "The world has to get used to civilized competition," he said. "It is an acceptable consequence that markets established by dominant powers in the previous century are changing hands in competitive market conditions. Nobody should allow it to evolve into a war. The world has enough prosperity for everyone. We need civilized, fair, equal economic competition, economic development models," he said.

Reiterating the call for a cease-fire in Gaza, Foreign Minister Wang Yi called for "strengthening cooperation" with Türkiye for a lasting solution to Palestine.

"The way out of the Palestine problem is a two-state solution. China and Türkiye support Palestine's membership in the U.N.," Wang told the news conference.

The Chinese foreign minister said Beijing and Ankara "should accelerate efforts to reach a just, lasting solution to the Palestinian issue as soon as possible by strengthening coordination." "China, Türkiye should strengthen cooperation, oppose all forms of hegemony and power politics, raise global governance to a fair level," said Wang.

The minister said China and Türkiye were representatives of ancient civilizations and the Silk Road connected them tightly, strengthening friendly relations. He said they were pleased with the development of bilateral ties.

Wang stated that during their talks, they agreed upon respect for each other’s basic interests and sensitivities, boosting political trust and supporting each other’s sovereignty. "We have to oppose foreign powers to intervene to our internal affairs under the guise of democracy and human rights," Wang said. He said they appreciated Türkiye’s adherence to the "One China" principle.

For his part, Fidan said the Belt and Road and Middle Corridor initiative they have been a party to became more significant and they were planning to harmonize the two while taking concrete steps for their integration to other transportation corridors such as Development Road in Iraq.

Fidan stated that bilateral relations advanced thanks to the joint understanding and vision of Turkish and Chinese presidents. "The great vision developed by two political leaders serves as a basis for deepening relations in modern times between two countries. Our aim is to take steps for the prosperity of our nations based on mutual respect and benefits," he said.

He pointed out that the economy made up an important component of relations and bilateral trade volume reached $48 billion last year. "This trade is largely in favor of China and we discussed how to balance it. We offered some practical solutions, such as the lifting of restrictions on Turkish agricultural products imports. Tourism is another field where we want to advance our cooperation," he said.