Workers at the construction site of the Hunutlu thermal power plant, in Adana, Turkey. The thermal plant is China's largest direct investment project in Turkey. (Photo/Xinhua)
Turkey is actively strengthening economic ties with China in a range of fields including agricultural exports, investment and tourism seeing there's much greater potential than the existing level of trade between the two countries, said Turkish officials.
Turkey's ambassador to China Abdulkadir Emin Onen said both of the two countries can cooperate in a larger sense than what the existing trade relations offer right now.
"We need to enhance these relations in terms of the trade volume, all cultural exchanges and people to people ties at every bilateral level," Onen said during a recent interview in Beijing. "We will continue our efforts to deepen our strategic cooperation with China in order to make Turkey a priority market and destination for Chinese investors and tourists and turn China into a primary market for Turkish exporters."
Onen said the agricultural sector is one of the areas where the two sides have great potential.
In 2018, China imported around $137.1 billion worth of agricultural products from all over the world. However, due to technical and regulatory issues, Turkish agricultural exports to China were limited to only $146 million in 2018.
"Turkey is rich in agricultural products and food industries, and thus we would like to enhance that potential," Onen said. "In the last three months, we have exported some new items to China, like cherries, pistachios and some seafood. We are planning to discuss details about milk and dairy product exports."
Mehmet Tan, director-general of representations in foreign countries and international activities of the Ministry of Trade of Turkey, agreed, adding that the two countries should further cooperate to eliminate trade barriers in this area.
"With higher education levels and increasing wages, Chinese consumers are now more open to the global market than ever. They are more picky and fully aware of the quality and the value of products offered to them," Tan said.
Today, China is Turkey's largest trade partner in Asia and the third-largest in the world. Bilateral trade volume between Turkey and China reached $23.6 billion in 2018.
Tan said the trade deficit is in China's favor at 32.3 percent of Turkey's total trade deficit. He said Turkey expects China to offer a more attractive customs and trade regime for Turkish entrepreneurs.
