Dear friends,

I assumed my duty as the Ambassador of the Republic of Türkiye in Beijing as of 1 April 2023.

I am glad and honored to be representing Türkiye in China where we have deep-rooted bonds of friendship.

The diplomatic relations between our countries were established in 1971 and were upgraded to “Strategic Cooperation Relationship” in 2010.

With the historic state visit of our President H.E. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to Beijing on 2 July 2019, upon the invitation of President H.E. Xi Jinping, our bilateral relations gained further momentum.

As two ancient civilizations located in the easternmost and the westernmost points of continental Asia, China and Türkiye had intense interaction on the historical Silk Road for centuries. Today, in line with the common vision provided by the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) as well as Türkiye’s “Asia Anew” initiative, I am pleased to observe that we continue to work on strengthening the Turkish-Chinese relations and cooperation in every field.

Further developing the relations between our two powerful and responsible countries will also substantially contribute to regional and global peace, prosperity and stability.

Increasing our bilateral trade and investments and expanding our exports to China are among our top priorities. As of today, China is Türkiye's largest trading partner in Asia and third largest trading partner in the world. The trade volume between the two countries have multiplied 40 times in the last 20 years and reached a record high volume of nearly 45 billion USD in 2022. Türkiye’s exports to China reached a record level in 2021 with 3.7 billion USD. Meanwhile, food and agricultural product exports have reached 361 million USD having increased by 159% in the last three years. We believe that it is important to diversify our export products, while benefitting from the opportunities of digital economy. This will help achieve a more balanced, win-win economic relationship that will lead to a lower trade deficit for Türkiye vis-a-vis China. The larger number of Turkish products taking their place in the trade and e-trade arena of China will make substantial contributions to the market while encouraging more Chinese investment in Türkiye.

We will also continue to expand our cooperation in areas such as energy, civil aviation, tourism, education and culture. We are glad to witness that the number of investors, tourists and students between the two countries are increasing. With the “Türkiye Tourism Year in China” conducted in 2018, 565 thousand Chinese tourists visited Türkiye, a new record. We invite more Chinese tourists to discover the wonders of Türkiye, the 6^th most visited country in the world.

The strong interaction, friendship and common understanding between our two countries also show itself as granting mutual assistance during hard times.Just as Türkiye was among the first countries to have sent medical aid to China during the outset of the Covid-19 pandemic, China was among the first countries to have lent a helping hand by sending search and rescue teams as well as urgent aid following the earthquake that took place in Türkiye in February 2023.

On behalf of the Embassy of the Republic of Türkiye in the People’s Republic of China, I look forward to your valuable and continued support, contribution and vision towards even stronger relations between our two countries in every field. I hope to be in close cooperation and interaction with you in the course of my tenure.

Taking this opportunity, I would like to extend my best wishes for the health, happiness and prosperity of the Turkish citizens in China and for our Chinese friends.

Dr. İsmail Hakkı Musa

Ambassador