ANTALYA, Türkiye, Nov. 11 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Vice President Han Zheng, as President Xi Jinping's special representative, met with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday on the sidelines of the Antalya Leaders' Summit of the 31st United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP31).
Conveying Xi's cordial greetings and best wishes to Erdogan, Han said that China and Türkiye enjoy a long history of friendly exchanges.
Under the strategic guidance of Xi and Erdogan, China-Türkiye relations have maintained sound and steady development, Han said, noting that China stands ready to work with Türkiye to advance high-quality Belt and Road cooperation, deepen practical cooperation across various fields, and promote the continuous development of the China-Türkiye strategic cooperative relationship.
Noting that the two heads of state have reached an important political consensus on accommodating each other's core interests and major concerns, Han said the two sides should support each other in pursuing the paths chosen by their own people and safeguarding their respective national sovereignty, security and development interests.
The two countries should elevate the level of practical cooperation, he said, stressing that China is ready to encourage more Chinese enterprises to invest and start businesses in Türkiye in line with market-oriented and commercial principles.
The two sides enjoy broad prospects for cooperation in renewable energy, artificial intelligence, biotechnology and other fields, and can jointly create more highlights in bilateral cooperation, Han added.
China appreciates Türkiye's efforts to advance global climate governance, and stands ready to work with Türkiye to ensure the success of COP31, the Chinese vice president said.
Erdogan, for his part, asked Han to convey his sincere greetings and best wishes to Xi.
He said that Türkiye attaches great importance to developing relations with China and firmly adheres to the one-China principle.
The Turkish president recalled that he met with Xi and reached a new consensus to promote the development of Türkiye-China relations at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization Tianjin Summit last year.
Türkiye is willing to firmly promote the implementation of the consensus, maintain close high-level exchanges with China, advance high-quality Belt and Road cooperation, enhance trade and investment, expand cooperation in new energy, minerals, artificial intelligence, transportation, tourism and other fields, promote people-to-people exchanges, and elevate Türkiye-China relations to a new level, said Erdogan.
He noted that Türkiye appreciates China's important contributions to promoting world peace and development, and hopes to enhance communication and collaboration with China to jointly promote peace and stability in the Middle East and work together to address global challenges such as climate change. ■
