22:02, 01-Apr-2018
Turkey-China Ties: Ankara and Beijing look to boost economic relations
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Turkey and China hope to improve economic relations. Chinese officials speaking at a conference in Istanbul say they want to increase trade, especially in food products. CGTN's Michal Bardavid has more.
Turkish businessmen attended a conference on Turkish – Chinese economic relations in Istanbul. China has been Turkey's second largest trade partner for the last three years and officials believe these numbers will increase in the upcoming years, especially with the implementation of China's One Belt One Road initiative.
During his speech, the Chinese Consul General also emphasized that China had completed 14 billion dollars' worth of contracting business in Turkey in fields of energy, transportation and telecommunication. Officials also announced Turkey would soon begin exporting cherries to China, and that they were also working on starting to export nuts as well.
One key area the two countries also intend to focus on is tourism.
HUANG SONGFENG COMMERCIAL CONSUL, CHINESE CONSULATE OF ISTANBUL "The number of Chinese tourists who travel abroad is so high and the number who travel to Turkey is less than zero point one percent. If we can just improve this, then there won't be a trade imbalance and people will stop complaining."
In an effort to increase Chinese travelers interest, China has also declared 2018 the year of tourism in Turkey. Michal Bardavid, CGTN, Istanbul.