Chinese FM meets Turkish counterpart

BAKU, Oct. 16 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi met with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan on Thursday in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, on the sidelines of the Seventh Summit of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia.

Wang, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, said China and Türkiye enjoy a traditional friendship, and deepening strategic cooperation between Beijing and Ankara serves the interests of both countries and their peoples and will also contribute to global economic recovery.

China has always attached great importance to its relations with Türkiye and stands ready to work with Ankara to take the 55th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries as an opportunity to implement the important consensus reached by the two heads of state and advance China-Türkiye strategic cooperation to a new level, Wang said.

Wang said China appreciates Türkiye's repeated emphasis on attaching importance to China's security concerns and its efforts in curbing terrorist acts that endanger China's national security.

China hopes Türkiye will continue to understand and support China's position on issues concerning its core interests, safeguard the common interests of both countries, and consolidate the political foundation of bilateral relations, Wang said.

Wang said China supports Türkiye in hosting the 31st session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP31), appreciates Türkiye's efforts to address climate change, and stands ready to deepen cooperation with Türkiye in this field.

In the next stage, the two sides should strengthen the synergy between the Belt and Road Initiative and the Middle Corridor, create a favorable environment for two-way investment, and achieve mutually beneficial win-win results, Wang said.

Fidan, for his part, said that through the joint efforts of both sides, Türkiye-China relations have continued to develop, and the two countries are working together to address various global challenges.

Türkiye attaches great importance to its relations with China and hopes to step up high-level exchanges between the two countries in the next stage, he said.

Noting the promising prospects for economic and trade relations between the two countries, Fidan said Türkiye welcomes Chinese companies to invest in Türkiye and more Chinese tourists to visit the country, and hopes to achieve more balanced development across various areas of bilateral cooperation.

Türkiye understands China's concerns in combating extreme terrorism and will adhere to the one-China principle, honor its commitments to China, and never allow its territory to be used for activities that undermine China's security, Fidan said.

The two sides also exchanged views on the current situation in the Middle East, the Ukraine crisis and other international and regional hotspot issues.