ANKARA (AA) - Chinese Ambassador in Ankara Gong Xiaosheng said that different attitudes of Turkey and China towards the Syrian issue, as China doesn't want to see the United Nations authorize a military intervention in the Syrian conflict, do not harm the two countries' bilateral relations.
Chinese Ambassador in Ankara Gong spoke on Thursday at the conference on the Turkish-Chinese relations in the international field, held by the International Strategic Research Organization (USAK) in Turkish capital of Ankara.
In his speech, Ambassador Gong mainly touched upon Turkish-Chinese trade figures, the recent developments in bilateral trade and the impact of Syrian conflict on Turkish-Chinese relations.
Gong expressed that Turkish-Chinese trade has been at a very good level for the last two years.
"Last year we have 24 billion dollars foreign trade. China imported goods from Turkey worth three billion dollars and Turkish side imported goods from China worth about 22 billion dollars," he said.
Saying that Turkey and China, during the past two years, signed two important documents on financial support and cooperation in infrastructure and construction areas, Gong stated that two sides have made great efforts to encourage Chinese investments in Turkey.
Gong also explained the figure of Chinese direct investment in Turkey as at least 500 million dollars, specifying the most important investment area as fast trains.
Answering a question on the different attitudes of Turkey and China to the Syrian issue, Ambassador Gong signaled that China sees no harm of this difference to the bilateral relations.
When reminded of China's veto right in the United Nations Security Council, Gong told that China doesn't want to see the United Nations authorize a military intervention in the Syrian conflict.
"It's the principle of UN to prevent the intervention of foreign countries in domestic issues of other countries. We don't like to see that UN authorizes to use military means to intervene in the domestic affairs of a foreign country. Democracy should come with security and development in Syria," he added.
