Time-honored Silk Road partnership renewed

Relations between China and Turkey can be traced back to the time of the ancient Silk Road, as records show friendly trading ties between Turkish ancestors and Han people on the Central Plains began to flourish more than 1,000 years ago.

Today, both countries are emerging markets and important players in the regional and world arenas. Beijing and Ankara obviously have everything to gain from continuously building on their time-honored friendship. Hence, it is good to see the two countries have seized the opportunity of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's visit to China this week to further consolidate their strategic partnership.

President Xi Jinping's meeting with Erdogan on Tuesday has sent an unmistakable message to the outside world that Beijing and Ankara are committed to building more strategic mutual trust and deepening bilateral cooperation so as to keep bilateral ties on a healthy and stable track.