Wednesday, 24 June 2009Turkish President Abdullah Gul left for China on Tuesday.
Gul flied to China at the invitation of Chinese President Hu Jintao. Gul will be accompanied by a large group of businessmen and state officials including State Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Ali Babacan, State Minister for Foreign Trade Zafer Caglayan and Interior Minister Besir Atalay.
Gul and Hu will discuss bilateral relations, ways to improve and strengthen cooperation between Turkey and China, as well as regional and international issues, Gul's office said in an earlier statement.
Prior to his departure, Gul told a reporters that China was the fourth biggest economy in the world and that Turkey was eager to boost economic relations with China.
"One of the major goals of my trip is to improve economic and commercial relations with China, and to create opportunities for our companies to establish new partnerships," Gul said.
Turkey and China has a trade volume of about 17 billion USD, Gul said, adding that he would discuss with Chinese officials ways to overcome imbalance in trade between the two countries.
Gul also said China was a partner of Turkey with its global position, rich history, cultural heritage and economic power.
"However, I believe that Turkey and China still could not discover each other very well," Gul said.
Officials of the two countries will also sign several agreements and Turkey-China Business Forum will be held on the sidelines of Gul's visit.
Besides his talks in the capital city of Beijing, Gul will also visit Chinese cities Xi'an, Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Urumchi. |
Wednesday, 24 June 2009
ANKARA (A.A)
|
|
