China, Turkey should maintain high-level exchanges, deepen strategic mutual trust: Xi

BEIJING - China and Turkey should maintain high-level exchanges and deepen strategic mutual trust, Chinese President Xi Jinping told Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan over phone on Thursday.

Xi pointed out that the China-Turkey strategic cooperative relations have witnessed steady development in recent years and achieved positive results in cooperation in various fields, saying both sides need to tap potential in lifting bilateral relations to a higher level as well as into broader areas.

China and Turkey also need to accommodate each other's concerns, which will lay a solid political foundation for bilateral cooperation, Xi added.

Xi called on the two countries to work hard at pragmatic cooperation, which require both sides to attach importance to dovetailing the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative with Turkey's Middle Corridor project, enriching people-to-people and cultural exchanges, and consolidating public support for bilateral friendly relations.

Turkey has special influence and roles on major international and regional issues, said Xi, adding that both countries need to maintain close communication and coordination on major issues within the framework of multilateral mechanisms such as the United Nations and the Group of 20, so as to make a positive contribution to promoting a new type of international relations and building a community with a shared future for mankind.