BEIJING - Trade relations between China and Turkey will deepen in the coming years despite inevitable frictions, experts said.

"Trade frictions between China and Turkey are inevitable as bilateral trade volume expands and the global economic slowdown intensifies export competition between the two fast-growing economies," Li Guofu, director of the Center of Middle East Studies in China Institute of International Studies, told China Daily.

"But the bilateral trade prospects are broad and will not be affected by trade frictions as China's fast development also benefits Turkey," Li said.

Gong Xiaosheng, Chinese ambassador to Turkey, agreed with the promising future in Sino-Turkish cooperation.

"As strategic partners, China and Turkey will embrace comprehensive cooperation, and the potential of cooperation under international organizations, including the United Nations, is vast," Gong said when addressing the International Conference on China in the World Order and the Turkish-Chinese Relationship in Ankara on Feb 10.

China is the third-biggest trade partner of Turkey, according to the Turkish Statistical Institute. Trade volume between China and Turkey surged by 24 percent year-on-year to $24.2 billion last year. Trade is expected to reach $50 billion in 2015 and $100 billion in 2020, a goal set by Premier Wen Jiabao and his Turkish counterpart Recep Erdogan during his visit to Turkey in October 2010.

However, trade has not always grown smoothly. Turkey had launched 47 anti-dumping investigations against Chinese exports as of August 2008, in addition to six special safeguard measures and 18 general safeguard measures.

The trade remedy investigations ranged from machinery and textile products to lighters and zippers, which "drove some Chinese exports out of local markets or shrank the market shares dramatically", Jiang Mingxin, a researcher from the Institute of West Asian and African Studies in the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, noted in an article.

Turkey's Ministry of Industry and Commerce extended an anti-dumping duty up to 35 percent against Chinese laminate floors for another five years in a review ruling on Jan 31 and extended a safeguard duty as high as 10 percent against Chinese cotton thread products in a review ruling on Jan 25, according to the Chinese embassy in Turkey.

Vice-President Xi Jinping started his visit to Turkey on Monday, and the visit is expected to "expand bilateral trade and advance cooperation on political issues as well as on anti-terrorism", according to Li.

Li suggested the two countries deepen negotiations and solve trade frictions through negotiations under World Trade Organization rules.

Chinese investments in Turkey are booming along with trade growth.

"At present, Chinese companies are carrying out smooth cooperation with Turkish companies in the fields of steel, mining, automobiles and energy," according to Gong.

China is one of Turkey's biggest mining investors and the biggest investor in marble in the country. The Bank of China and China Development Bank have established branches in Turkey, which will "provide financial support for cooperation in infrastructure and other fields", Gong said.

The second phase of the high-speed railway connecting Ankara and Istanbul is going well and China hopes to help Turkey build a high-speed railway across the Bosporus, connecting Europe and Asia.

China Daily

(China Daily 02/22/2012 page3)