By Adnan Akfırat, Chairman of the Turkish-Chinese Business Development and Friendship Association
I am presenting for the information of our readers the speech I made as Vice President of the China-Türkiye Trade Development Company and President of the Turkish-Chinese Business Association at the opening ceremony of the China-Türkiye Trade Development Company, on February 21st, which we established with our Chinese partners in the city of Urumqi in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region of China:
Yunus Emre, the great Turkish poet, cautioned us 700 years ago:
“Let’s get acquainted
Let’s make things easy
Let us love and be loved
The world will be left to no one”
Getting acquainted is the culture of being human that Asia, the cradle of great civilizations in history, has distilled from thousands of years of experience. Meeting is not just exchanging business cards, as the US has imposed on the world business culture, but trying to do business together.
The first condition for getting acquainted is to respect the other person and see their differences as an opportunity to enrich your personal culture. A well-known Turkish proverb, “Every brave (yiğit) has his own way of eating yogurt”, tells and reminds us of the value of differences. Chinese President Xi Jinping, during the opening ceremony of the 9th Asian Games on February 8, 2025, described it beautifully: “Just as every snowflake is unique, so is every civilization.”
The way to make things easy
Yunus Emre states that when you become acquainted, things will become easier. The essence of Turkish and Chinese business culture is to be friends before doing business. Because to be a friend is to think not only about yourself but also about the other person.
In Chinese, instead of saying hello “nihao”, they used to ask “are you hungry or full?”. The same tradition still continues in villages in Türkiye. On the other hand, in the West, when you order a meal, it is customary to take half of the bill from the guest. This tradition of mutualism is a sign that Türkiye and China are in a common Asian cultural circle.
The philosophy of the Belt and Road Initiative, which Türkiye officially joined in 2014, is the same: Win-win. The “win-win” principle is to demonstrate the ability to fuse one’s own aspirations with those of the other, based on mutual respect.
The Western culture of doing business, on the contrary, is only to increase its share. For them, the success of business is “Win-Lose”. In their world, business is one thing, friendship is another. But the philosophy of Asian civilization is not dualistic like the individualistic philosophy of the West. Mevlana Jalaluddin Rumi, one of the pinnacles of Turkish humanistic philosophy, advises us: “Either be as you seem, or seem as you truly are!”
However, the core of Western culture is marked by hypocrisy. In the age of imperialism, having two faces is no longer enough. They are now many-faced like the “devil” described in ancient beliefs. They have a single value, a single principle: to win under all circumstances, to make those they oppose lose at all costs. This erodes the common human value of compassion. There is no limit to the violence it uses. As we suffered 100 years ago together, it is brutal. It is ruthless.
A new world is being built with the construction of a multipolar world, the teeth of the aggressor are falling out. We are very hopeful for the future.
Support of the Turkish and Chinese Governments
Our President Mr. Tayyip Erdoğan and Chinese President Mr. Xi Jinping are setting the right goals and paving the way for Türkiye-China cooperation. The successful visit of our Foreign Minister Mr. Hakan Fidan in June last year brought our relations closer. We would like to thank both the leaders of the Republic of Türkiye and the leaders of the People’s Republic of China.
We would like to thank our Deputy Minister of Trade, Mr. Mahmut Gürcan, who was kind enough to come to our opening from Türkiye, 6 thousand kilometers away, despite very adverse weather conditions, for his support. Türkiye’s successful Ambassador Mr. İsmail Hakkı Musa is always with us with his vast diplomatic experience and wisdom. We owe him a debt of gratitude.
One-thousandth of Xinjiang’s Imports
Now is the time to work together. Because we have big things ahead of us:
According to the information provided by Mr. Atakan Özdemir, our Chief Foreign Trade Counselor in Beijing, our imports from the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (XUAR) in 2024 amounted to 152 million dollars. Our exports to the XUAR are 12 million dollars. Our trade imbalance with the whole of China shows itself in the Uyghur Autonomous Region at almost the same rate.
Aluminum ores and concentrates are the biggest imports of the XUAR from Türkiye, followed by biscuits and chocolate. Our imports from the XUAR are mainly electronics and machinery parts. Still, the first item in our imports, albeit by a very small margin, is unprocessed sunflower seeds and pumpkin seeds!
While the total imports of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region in 2024 amounted to 14 billion dollars, imports from Türkiye were less than one-thousandth.
It is high time for the Uyghur Autonomous Region, China’s fastest growing region in terms of foreign trade, to develop commercial-economic relations with Türkiye. Türkiye has a great scope for doing business with the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, which is the fastest developing region in China in terms of annual growth rate.
Leading Brands of Türkiye in Urumqi
We established the China-Türkiye Trade Development Company for this purpose. We are grateful for the warm hospitality and facilities provided by the People’s Government of the Uygur Autonomous Region. The Midong County Government generously provided our newly established company with a 1,700-square-meter office space.
It has shown how sincere it is in its aim to improve relations with Türkiye. We would like to thank the Midong People’s Government and the esteemed Midong Party Secretary Mr. Zhang Junxiang.
We have established a Turkish Products Exhibition and Trade Center in our company headquarters, which is located right next to the Hilton Hotel where this meeting was held. To start with, we have signed contracts with 12 companies from Türkiye that are the leaders in their fields. Ülker, a world brand in chocolate and biscuits, Biotol, Türkiye’s most exported brand in cleaning supplies, Dorin Anatolia in quality olive oil, Bork Health, the most exported food additive brand from Türkiye, Tarmond, a brand of quality motor oils, Güney Alkol, Türkiye’s largest alcoholic beverage producer, and Pierre Cardin Home, a world brand in home textiles, Borboleta from Denizli, the towel and bathrobe capital of Türkiye, Egyptian, Türkiye’s most respected knitted textile brand, Ordotex, Türkiye’s well-known brand in the field of medical textiles, and Avenue8, a globally successful brand in women’s wear, are presented to Xinjiang distributors, wholesalers and supermarkets in our exhibition center.
We would like to thank the Turkish companies who, despite all the black propaganda against them, braved the lies, rented space in our exhibition center in Urumqi and decided to stay in the Xinjiang market.
Let’s Mobilize the Restorative Power of Trade
We know very well that if the relations between Türkiye and Xinjiang improve, the relations between China and Türkiye will be even better. Throughout history, the most powerful means of uniting peoples has been trade. This is the secret of the historic Silk Road’s functioning for thousands of years. As relations improve, successful Turkish and Chinese companies will be able to establish themselves in and expand into China’s market of 1 billion 400 million people. With Xinjiang serving as the heart of the Belt and Road Initiative, Chinese companies will have easy access to a $3 trillion market with Türkiye at its center.
With the support of the Turkish and Chinese governments, we are opening a bright new chapter in trade between Türkiye and Xinjiang. Through our China-Türkiye Trade Development Company, we are developing a business model for the benefit of both countries, strictly adhering to laws and regulations, transparent at every stage and adding security to the security of both countries. The basic principle of this cooperation is Win-Win!
A Solid Bridge Spanning Millennia
The China-Türkiye Trade Promotion Company was established in Xinjiang, but it is not limited to Xinjiang. This year, we will open the China-Türkiye Trade Promotion Company and its headquarters in Türkiye. This company, which has been strengthened by both government officials and your esteemed guests attending the opening ceremony, will be a very strong bridge between China and Türkiye for centuries to come.
We once again thank both governments for their support and hope that they will continue to do so.
My hope is that, in a hundred years or even a thousand years, our grandchildren will maintain this bridge, continuously nurturing the friendship between our two great nations.
Our promise is clear: We will connect, grow closer, and make things easier.
I greet you all with respect and thank you once again.
Long live the friendship of the Turkish and Chinese people!