(RTTNews) – Boosting bilateral trade, China on Wednesday signed a slew of contracts and deals worth $4.3 billion with Turkish firms on the sidelines of the visit of Chinese Vice-President Xi Jinping.
Bilateral trade between the two countries increased from some $1 billion in 2001 to nearly $19 billion in 2011 with China emerging Turkey’s third biggest trading partner, the Xinhua news agency reported quoting Chinese official statistics.
Since 2001, Chinese companies have signed with Turkish firms project-contracting deals worth over $10 billion, among which construction of the Ankara-Istanbul high-speed railway is the biggest joint project.
Addressing a China-Turkish business forum in Istanbul, Xi called for more efforts to boost trade and economic cooperation between the two countries.
He said efforts should be made in elevating bilateral economic cooperation, namely, to increase political trust, to explore more cooperation fields and deepen substantial cooperation, to join hands to reject trade protectionism and to enhance cultural exchange and people-to-people communication.
Xi said his current visit was aimed at deepening traditional friendship and consolidating strategic relations between the two countries.
Xi, who arrived in Turkey on Monday had talks with President Abdullah Gul, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Parliament Speaker Cemil Cicek in Ankara.
by RTT Staff Writer
via China Inks Contracts Worth $4.3 Billion With Turkey.
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