ANKARA - Turkish State Minister Kursad Tuzmen received Chinese Ambassador in Ankara Augio Song on Wednesday.
Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Tuzmen said they had evaluated trade volumes of Turkey and China and dimensions of their bilateral commercial relations.
Noting that exports from Turkey to China increased by 70 percent in 2003, Tuzmen said that annual trade volume between the two countries was about 3.1 billion U.S. dollars and 2.6 billion U.S. dollars part of this volume was exports from China to Turkey.
Noting that total exports from Turkey to China was 500 million U.S. dollars, Tuzmen said, ''there is really a big imbalance. It is a serious deficit. Our talks on bringing trade volume to higher points to remove this deficit are under way.''
Stressing that it was caused by two factors, Tuzmen said that Chinese products were sold at very low prices and it created an extra demand in Turkish market for such products due to excessive revaluation of Turkish lira while Chinese yen did not gain in value.
Noting that the other factor was quality, Tuzmen said that they thought it would be more appropriate if China increased its domestic supervision regarding the issue.
''Our target is to increase Turkey's share in Chinese market through long term relations. We will work together. They will take necessary measures themselves. I stated that we would take our own measures according to our methods if they would not take measures. So I believe that the Chinese Ambassador would convey this to the Chinese authorities,'' he said.
Meanwhile, Song said that Turkey and China were two friendly countries, adding, ''as the People's Republic of China, we always attribute great importance to Turkey and continuous development of these relations.''
Noting that an important part of relations between the two countries was economic and commercial, Song said that they were ready to do what was necessary regarding the issue.
''As China, we follow win-and-win policy about development of economic and commercial relations with Turkey. Our aim is to serve peoples of our two countries to develop our bilateral commercial and economic relations and to work for global peace and stability,'' the Chinese Ambassador added.
(MS-AY) 28.04.2004