Turkish companies strike crucial contracts in China

BEIJING - Anatolia News Agency

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (L) meets with China’s chairman of the standing Committee of the National People’s Congress Wu Bangguo. AA photo

Turkish and Chinese companies signed several agreements, particularly on energy investments, yesterday within the scope of the four day visit to the Asian giant by a large Turkish mission headed by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

“I believe that your visit will be beneficial to developing strategic relations between China and Turkey,” Chinese President Hu Jintao told Erdoğan at yesterday’s meeting, according to Anatolia news agency.
The trade deals were signed under the auspices of Economy Minister Zafer Çağlayan and Energy Minister Taner Yıldız.

Turkey’s Hattat Holding and Chinese China Avic International Holding agreed to cooperate in engineering, purchasing and construction of a 1,320-MW thermic power plant to be built in the northern Turkish province of Bartın. The project costs about $1.5 billion.

Under the agreement, the two companies aim to provide 5 million tons of charcoal from pits in Bartın’s Amasra town. This amount will be raised to 10 million tons in the future. This project is expected to reduce charcoal import by $1 billion.

Also, Turkey’s Demkor Mining Industry & Trade Limited Company and Beijing houugang International Engineering Technology initialled an agreement on technology transfer, project design and construction. The project is worth $ 500 million.

Moreover, Turkey’s Sun Group and China Railway Shanhaiguan Bridge Group Co. (CRSBG) are planning to co-produce iron bridge materials and railway equipment to be sold in Turkey and surrounding countries. Turkey’s Akfel Group and China Sun Energy also signed an agreement worth $350 million to produce solar panels in Turkey. Furthermore, Turkish construction magnate Ali Ağaoğlu also signed a deal with China’s largest turbine producer Sinovel for a 600 MW power plant with a $1 billion investment.

A day earlier, Turkey and China inked two deals on cooperation in nuclear power plant building. Along with China, Turkey is bargaining with South Korea, Japan and Russia for the construction of its planned second nuclear plant.

27 year gap

The strategic deals have filled a “27 year-gap” according to China Daily newspaper.

Erdoğan yesterday visited a satellite manufacturing facility in Beijing.

Turkey’s state run broadcaster TRT sold its television shows like “Leyla and Mecnun” and “Seksenler,” to China’s CCTV, according to daily Hürriyet.

Chinese firms, industrialists and traders should explore opportunities in Turkey, said Minister Çağlayan, speaking at the Turkey-China Economy and Trade Forum in Beijing yesterday.

Çağlayan said Turkey and China were the two countries that connected the western most point of Asia with the eastern most point and that both countries had the necessary infrastructure to increase economic cooperation with one another.

Chinese Deputy Prime Minister Wang Qishan said, meanwhile, the number of Chinese tourists to Turkey went up by 28 percent in 2011 and the number of Turkish tourists to China saw a 17 percent increase.

He also said China would work with Turkey to increase the trade volume between the two countries to $50 billion by 2015 and $100 billion by 2020.

The Turkish mission moved to Shanghai later yesterday after finishing talks in Beijing.