On
October 30, the Consulate General of Türkiye in Guangzhou held
the National Day Reception to celebrate the Centennial of the
Republic of Türkiye.
(Photo provided to GDToday)
“The history of Turkish-Chinese relations dates back over a millennium. Despite the geographical distance, the two nations at the east and west ends of the Asian continent have always been bound by the ancient Silk Road.”Kaan Başkurt, Consul General of Türkiye in Guangzhou, said when delivering his speech.
In 2010, China and Türkiye established a strategic cooperative relationship, which has been constantly strengthening.
“Our bilateral trade volume exceeded 44 billion USD last year. China is Türkiye's top trade partner in Asia and the third in the world. More and more Turkish products are finding their way onto the shelves here in China while around 1,300 Chinese companies are active in Türkiye,” said Başkurt.
Ye Zhenqin, Vice Chairman of the Standing Committee of Guangdong Provincial People's Congress, said that spurred by the sound and steady development of bilateral ties, economic cooperation and friendly exchanges between Guangdong Province and Türkiye have gone from strength to strength.
Statistics show that from January to April 2023, the two-way trade between Guangdong and Türkiye showed strong growth momentum and reached 478 billion USD, a year-on-year increase of 8 percent.
Guangdong and Guangzhou are twinned with Istanbul Province and the City of Istanbul respectively, and have been enjoying a growing friendship, frequent local high-level visits, robust economic and trade engagement, as well as active cultural exchanges ever since.
“A friend in need is a friend indeed. Right after the devastating earthquakes that hit Türkiye in February this year, over 7,000 tons of aid was delivered from Guangdong to disaster-hit areas,” Başkurt said, adding “As we are moving to the second centennial of the Republic of Türkiye, we are confident that Turkish-Chinese relations will continue to flourish to the mutual benefit of Türkiye and China.”
Guangdong Province, an important cradle of the ancient Maritime Silk Road and the pace-setter of China's reform and opening-up, now stands as a fulcrum in high-quality Belt and Road cooperation and high-standard opening-up.
Ye Zhenqin sincerely hopes that with the strong support of the Turkish Consulate General in Guangzhou, Guangdong and Türkiye can continuously expand cooperation in key areas such as trade, energy and tourism, further promote alignment of development strategies, and jointly contribute to global modernization for peaceful development, mutually beneficial cooperation and prosperity for all.
Author | Hannah
Editor | Wing, Steven, Monica, Jerry
