I. Political Relations

1. China and Turkey two nations established diplomatic relations on August 4, 1971.

2. Since the establishment of diplomatic relations, Sino-Turkish relations have been

developing smoothly. Especially, since 1980s, the exchanges between the two countries have been increased and the relations have developed rapidly. Turkish leaders who visited China are President Evren (December 1982), Prime Minister Ozal (July 1985), Speaker of the Grand National Assembly Karaduman (October 1985), President Demirel (May 1995) and Speaker of the Grand National Assembly Kalemuli (August 1996). Chinese leaders who visited Turkey are President Li Xiannian (March, 1984), Premier Zhao Ziyang (July, 1986), Chairman of the Eighth Standing Committee of National People's Congress Qiao Shi (November, 1996) and Chairman of the Nineth Standing Committee of National People's Congress Li Peng (April, 1999), In April 2002, Premier Zhu Rongji of the State Council of China visited Turkey.


II. Economic and Trade Relations and Economic and Technological Cooperation

In 1981, China and Turkey signed trade protocol. In December 1981, the two signed the agreement on economic, industrial and technical cooperation. In June 1985, they signed the minutes of talks on cooperation of economy and technology, trade, civil aviation and telecommunications. In October 1991, each side set up bilateral entrepreneurs' council respectively. The trade volume of the two countries is ?701.8 million, among which there is ?659.1 million of exports to Turkey and ?4.27 thousand of imports to China. In 1999, China-Turkey trade volume was $683 million, including $636 million of China's exports to Turkey and $47 million of imports from it. The total trade volume between the two countries in 2001 was US$900,000,000, of which the Chinese export was US$670,000,000, and import US$230,000,000.


III. Exchanges and Cooperation in Other Fields

With the joint efforts of the two sides, the cultural exchange and cooperation relations continued developing. In November 1993, China and Turkey signed the agreement on cultural cooperation between Chinese and Turkish governments. The exchange programmes cover every field including culture, sports, education, news, etc. The Minister of Culture Wang Meng visited Turkey in March 1988. The Turkish Minister of Culture and Tourism Titiz (June 1988) and the Minister of Culture Salar (September 1992) visited China. In addition, Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin, Xi'an, Rizhao, Anshan, Nanjing, Bengbu, Zhenjiang and Panjin have become friendly cities with Ankara, Istanbul, Izmir, Konya, Trabzon, Bursa, Mersin, Sican, Izmit and Yalova. In October, 1999, State Councilor and Defence Minister Chi Haotian visited Turkey. In February, 2000, Turkish Interior Minister visited China.


IV. Important Bilateral Agreements and Documents

The Agreement on Civil, Commercial and Criminal Judicial Assistance between China and Turkey (September 28, 1992)

Consular Treaty of China and Turkey (March 6, 1989).

The Agreement on Cooperation against Cross-border Crime between the Governments of the People's Republic of China and the Republic of Turkey (February 14, 2000)

The Agreement between the Government of the People's Republic of China and the Government of the Republic of Turkey on Cooperation and Mutual Assistance in Customs Affairs (April 16, 2002).