Gul begins landmark China visit with a view to stronger trade ties

President Abdullah Gul yesterday arrived in China for a four-day official visit at the invitation of his Chinese counterpart Hu Jintao, with an eye to seek stronger trade ties between Turkey and the world's fastest-growing and fourth-largest economy at a time of global economic crisis. A large group of businesspeople and Cabinet ministers accompanied him, including Deputy Prime Minister Ali Babacan, State Minister for Foreign Trade Zafer Caglayan, Interior Minister Besir Atalay, and Turkish Industrialists' and Businessmen's Association (TUSIAD) head Arzuhan Dogan Yalcindag. Speaking to reporters before leaving, Gul said that one of the trip's major goals is to boost economic and commercial ties with China, thus creating opportunities for Turkish companies to establish new partnerships with Chinese firms. Gul also said he hoped the visit would lead to closer political coordination and cooperation with China on global political issues. Speaking with China's Xinhua news agency, Gul said, "Cooperation between Turkey and China is of importance not only to our two countries but also to the international community." He said the two countries have the potential to cooperate in resolving international and regional issues such as South Korea's nuclear program and problems in the Middle East, the Caucasus and Africa. Touching on the economic crisis, Gul said, “We believe that we need strong international action to establish of a new and fair international financial order" and called for close cooperation between the two countries within the Group of 20 (G-20) to this end. Stating that Turkey and China are in a good position to overcome new challenges and pursue greater prosperity through cooperation, he said that thanks to the two countries' unique cultural identities, they could better tackle threats to common aspirations such as security, harmony and prosperity. China is a permanent member of the UN Security Council, where Turkey holds a non-permanent member seat through next year. Turkey and China have a trade volume of about $17 billion, but Turkish exports to China make up only $2 billion of this. Gul will discuss with Chinese officials ways to overcome the trade imbalance by increasing Chinese direct investment in Turkey. Turkey also wants to attract more Chinese tourists. Of 26 million tourists visiting Turkey last year, only 70,000 were Chinese. Turkey also has an eye on $2 billion worth of joint ventures with China in third countries. On the first day of his visit, Gul visited TRT-Turk's Beijing office. Telling TRT that improving relations with China is no substitute for Turkey's relations with the US and the European Union, he added that China has begun to play a stronger role in world politics, which led it to seek stronger ties with Turkey. Gul said Turkey's strategic goal is to integrate with the EU but this doesn't mean weak relations with Asia, the Islamic world, Latin America or Africa.