ANKARA: Qingwei Kong, the secretary of the Finance Committee of the ruling Communist Party of China – which is known as the key to investing in China – said that they are open to all kinds of collaboration with Turkey.
Although Turkey has signed an agreement with China for national currencies to be used in trade, the trade volume in yuan was only around $28.7 million.
Kong stressed that they want to turn Shanghai into a global trade center; therefore, they have established a Shanghai Financial Operations Committee. “We have already set our goals for 2020. We want to increase China’s official currency, the yuan’s, circulation in global trade,” Kong said. He also added that they are open to all kinds of cooperation with Turkey and want Turkey to be China’s strategic business partner.
He also said that they have increased the variety of financial instruments in their local market, and with these steps, the finance sector’s total commercial volume increased by 23 percent in 2014, reaching 786 trillion yuan.
Kong highlighted that their efforts have paid off, as some Turkish financial institutions have opened offices in Shanghai, and many more are also preparing to do so.
He underscored the importance of support from both governments in private banking, asset management, investment safety and insurance as well.
The trade volume between the two countries has reached $27 billion, and Kong emphasized that they want to increase it to $100 billion by 2020. Kong also stated that special arrangements should be made between the two countries to increase the number of Turkish investors in Shanghai’s Free Trade Zone. “To increase financial relations between the two countries, new mechanisms are required.
We have to establish multi-level platforms that include financial regulators, financial markets, institutions and trade unions. We will make sure that Turkish investors realize the economic benefit of using the yuan for trade between the two counties,” Kong said.
