Turkey, China discuss bilateral economic cooperation

Turkey and China on Friday discussed ways to enhance bilateral economic cooperation.

Turkey's Customs and Trade Minister Bülent Tüfenkci, who is on a one-day visit to Chinese capital Beijing, met head of China's General Administration of Customs Yu Guangzhou at the National Congress Center.

Tüfenkci said the rapid economic development of Turkey and China has a "significant" impact on the bilateral economic and trade relations between the two countries.

He noted the bilateral trade volume between Ankara and Beijing increased to $27 billion in 2016 from $14 billion in 2009.

Speaking about the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars (BTK) railway project, which connects the Central Asian states to Europe's railroad network via an alternative route, Tüfenkci said: "After the completion of this project, we will be able to link China and England with the shortest and fastest way."

He added production and consumption centers will be connected to each other with this project.

Yu said the bilateral trade increased by 12 percent in 2017 compared to 2016.

He expects Turkey to bring its light industry products to China and said Beijing would be pleased with strengthening cooperation among the institutions of two countries.