Turkish prime minister visits China

Trip by Recep Tayyip Erdogan is first to China by a Turkish leader for 27 years and is designed to boost business ties between the booming economies

guardian.co.uk, Associated Press, Monday 9 April 2012

Recep Tayyip Erdogan's first stop was in Urumqi, home to China's Uighurs
 who are ethnically related to Turks. Their plight has been a source of contention
between Turkey and China. Photograph: Umit Bektas/Reuters

The Turkish prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, is to arrive in Beijing on Monday for an official visit to boost business and political ties between the two rising powers with booming economies, despite differences over Syria and China's ethnic Uighur region.

The visit is the first to China in 27 years by a Turkish premier and follows a February trip by the Chinese vice-president Xi Jinping to Ankara and Istanbul, where the countries signed deals worth billions of dollars.

The official Chinese news agency Xinhua said Erdogan had brought a delegation of 300 business people, seeking more Chinese investment in Turkey and an increase in Turkish exports.

Erdogan said before he left for China that the countries could co-operate in the energy, construction, automotive, banking, technology and telecommunications industries, according to Xinhua.

China's foreign affairs ministry said Erdogan had first stopped in Urumqi, capital of the far western Xinjiang region, on Sunday. Xinjiang is home to China's Uighurs, who are ethnically related to Turks.

Ethnic tensions have led to violence in the region in recent years, and relations between the countries dipped in 2009 when renewed violence broke out inXinjiang and Erdogan described China's use of overwhelming force against anti-government protesters as a type of genocide.

But when Xi was in Turkey the two sides sought to downplay any contentious issues.

Xinhua reported that Turkey planned to set up an industrial zone in Xinjiang.

Erdogan was to meet the premier, Wen Jiabao, on Monday, and the president, Hu Jintao, on Tuesday. He is also scheduled to travel to Shanghai, China's financial centre.