Chinese Ambassador to Ankara Yu Hongyang and Agriculture Minister Bekir Pakdemirli pledged Thursday to ramp up ties and to increase cooperation through the "Belt and Road" initiative (BRI).

Speaking at an event organized by the Chinese Embassy on the occasion of the 69th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China, Hongyang said, "The Chinese side would like to continue its efforts together with the Turkish side in quickening steps to match the BRI and the ‘Middle Corridor' project so as to realize a higher and deeper level of cooperation, bring more benefits to the two peoples and usher in a brighter future for China-Turkey relations."

Pointing out that President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and his counterpart Xi Jinping met for the fifth time in the past three years, Hongyang added, "We look forward to the participation of all countries in the ‘Belt and Road' partner network so that the fruit of this initiative could benefit more countries and more people"

China considers Turkey as an important partner since a bridge between Europe and Asia constitutes a significant position for the BRI. The BRI, referred to as the 21st century Silk Road, is a development strategy announced by Jinping in 2013 to improve regional cooperation. The network of the initiative involves 65 countries that account for over 30 percent of global gross domestic product (GDP) and 75 percent of known energy reserves. The BRI is expected to lead to higher cross-border trade and further growth in the region.

Commenting on economic relations, Pakdemirli underscored that although the trade volume with China is very high at the moment, it is not enough given the conditions of the new world order. "We have to expand our cooperation and trade with China," Pakdemirli said and added that he will visit Shanghai on Nov. 5-7 to step up cooperation in agriculture products.

In relation to the same issue, Hongyang underlined that during the first seven months of this year, the bilateral trade volume between Turkey and China reached $14 billion, an increase of 13 percent compared to the same period last year. "Chinese tourists coming to Turkey also doubled thanks to activities organized as a part of the 2018 Turkish Tourism Year in China," Hongyang said.

In the last decade or so, China has become a key trade partner of Turkey. China became Turkey's first supplier as of 2016 leaving Germany behind. In the last few years, Chinese foreign direct investment (FDI) in Turkey has also started to surge, and Erdoğan and Jinping agreed to strengthen bilateral cooperation in late July during the BRICS summit in South Africa.