Finance Minister Şimşek set to hold talks in China this week

ANKARA

Finance Mehmet Şimşek will travel to Beijing to attend the second meeting of the Türkiye-China Intergovernmental Cooperation Committee (ICC), the highest-level consultation mechanism between the two countries.

During his visit, the minister will also hold talks with senior executives of Chinese financial and investment companies, including ICBC and Bank of China as well as Chinese Vice President Han Zheng and Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank President Jin Liqun, Turkish sources told state-run Anadolu Agency.

The economic and commercial relations will be discussed at the talks, the sources said.

Bilateral trade volume exceeded $48 billion in 2023. China is Türkiye’s third largest trading partner in the world.

In China, Şimşek will first attend the Joint Working Group Meeting on Nov. 6 to discuss the harmonization of the Middle Corridor Initiative and the Belt and Road Initiative.

Air and road connectivity, green transformation, cooperation in energy, industry and investments, as well as trade and economic issues, will be discussed at the meeting.

On Nov. 7, Şimşek and Chinese Vice Premier Zhang Guoqing will co-chair the ICC meeting.

Established with a memorandum of understanding signed in Beijing in 2015, the committee is tasked with identifying priority areas for cooperation, including politics, economy, trade, energy, transportation, security, culture, tourism and other fields.

The first meeting of the committee was held in Ankara on Nov. 4, 2016, and will convene for the first time in eight years in China this week.