President of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan (left) receives flowers from a girl upon his arrival in Beijing, China on Tuesday. Photo: IC

Chinese President Xi Jinping met with visiting Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Beijing on Tuesday, during which the two sides reached agreements on a wide range of topics including counter-terrorism and cooperation under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).

Xi urged the two sides to respect each other's sovereignty, core interests and major concerns, calling for concrete actions in counter-terrorism, China Global Television Network (CGTN) reported on Tuesday.

China appreciates the fact that Erdogan has repeatedly reiterated that any anti-China separatist activities are not allowed in Turkey as well as its strong support to China's anti-terrorist operations, said Xi, adding that China is willing to enhance international cooperation on counter-terrorism with Turkey, according to CGTN

Erdogan said that Turkey firmly adheres to the One-China Principle, and it is a fact that the residents of various ethnic groups in Northwest China's Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region are living happily under China's development and prosperity.

Turkey does not allow anyone to provoke the relationship between the two countries, Erdogan added. 

Zhu Weilie, a Middle East expert with the Shanghai International Studies University, told the Global Times on Tuesday that China and Turkey need to carry out pragmatic cooperation on counter-terrorism, such as intelligence-sharing and crisis and public opinion management.

"Erdogan delivered a very positive signal on the issue about Xinjiang in his statement, which shows that China's influence on regional and international affairs is rising. It also shows that Turkey's foreign policy is in the process of transformation and is now trying to strike a balance between the East and the West," said Zhu.

"China has the conditions and the ability to cooperate with Turkey on a broader and deeper level, but the cooperation must be based on political mutual trust, which requires that they reach a consensus on each other's major concerns," Zhu noted.

The Chinese president positioned Turkey as an important partner in the Belt and Road cooperation, proposing that China and Turkey should work jointly to accelerate the integration of Turkey's "Middle Corridor" project with the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).

Erdogan said that Turkey strongly supports the construction of the BRI and hopes the two sides will strengthen cooperation in sectors including trade, infrastructure, 5G, and smart cities under the framework of BRI. 

Turkey is against any form of trade war  and any kind of protectionism, Turkish diplomatic sources told the Global Times on Tuesday.