Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji met with visiting Turkish Deputy Prime Minister and State Minister Devlet Bahceli Tuesday afternoon.
Zhu said that China and Turkey have long had close contacts, and that the people of the two countries share a long-standing friendship.
He said the two countries hold identical or similar views on many major international issues. They also share broad common interests.
Zhu said China has been satisfied with the development of bilateral relations over the past few years. He expressed the belief that with joint efforts by both sides, the new partnership between the two countries will grow further.
He said the Chinese government places great importance on its relations with Turkey and has set the policy of continuously consolidating and expanding friendly bilateral relations. He said the two countries share great potential in trade and economic cooperation. China is ready to join efforts with Turkey to push bilateral trade and economic cooperation to a new level.
Bahceli will also visit Shanghai and western areas of China.
Zhu briefed the Turkish guests about the development of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region in western China, and China's strategy of developing its western areas.
Bahceli said the recent visit by Premier Zhu Rongji to Turkey has helped deepen bilateral cooperation in various areas. He said Turkey places importance on relations with China, and always sticks to the "one-China" policy. He expressed that Turkey is willing to expand cooperation with China on the basis of mutual respect for territorial integrity and non-interference in each other's internal affairs. He said Turkish enterprises are willing to participate in the development of the western areas of China.
( May 29, 2002)
