JOHANNESBURG, Feb. 20 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Thursday met with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, with both sides pledging to expand bilateral cooperation.
The meeting was held on the sidelines of the G20 Foreign Ministers' Meeting in Johannesburg. Wang is also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee.
During the meeting, Wang noted that both China and Türkiye are part of the Global South and are accelerating their industrialization, there is significant potential for practical cooperation between the two countries.
China attaches great importance to the relations with Türkiye and places bilateral ties at an important position in its Middle East diplomacy. China is willing to strengthen communication and coordination with Türkiye, deepen the synergy of development strategies, expand cooperation areas, and bring benefits to the two countries and other countries in the region, said Wang.
Wang thanked Türkiye for its assistance in the recent evacuation of Chinese citizens from Syria, adding that resolutely fighting terrorism in all forms serves the common interests of both China and Türkiye, and is also a widely shared consensus of the international community.
China is willing to strengthen counter-terrorism cooperation with Türkiye and jointly safeguard regional and world peace and tranquility, Wang said.
Fidan, for his part, noted that Türkiye and China have maintained close exchanges at all levels and in all fields in recent years, with meetings of the intergovernmental cooperation committees successfully held, the Middle Corridor and the Belt and Road Initiative smoothly aligned, and China becoming Türkiye's second-largest trading partner.
He said that Türkiye is willing to expand trade and investment with China, explore cooperation in emerging fields such as renewable energy, information technology and artificial intelligence, and continue strengthening collaboration on counterterrorism, law enforcement and security at both bilateral and multilateral levels.
The two sides also exchanged views on regional hotspot issues. Türkiye appreciates China's just position on issues such as the Ukraine crisis and the Palestinian issue, supports the six-point consensus jointly proposed by China and Brazil, agrees that the two-state solution must be adhered to, and welcomes China's efforts to strengthen ties with regional countries, said Fidan.
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