Session 3: Chinese companies’ experiences in Turkey

About the session

Date: June 2, 2021

Time: 11:00 – 11:40 (GMT+3)

The year 2021 corresponds to the 50^th anniversary of the initiation of diplomatic relations between Chinese and Turkish companies. China recorded up to USD 2.6 billion dollars of overall investments in Turkey as of 2019. Logistic advantages of Turkey as well as its partnership in Belt and Road Initiative continue to attract attention of Chinese companies. Thanks to the growing cooperation between Turkish and Chinese governments especially in energy, infrastructure, transportation, and technology sectors, investment of Chinese companies in Turkey peaked in 2018 and 2019. Overall trade volume between China and Turkey reached USD 100 billion in the last five years and Chinese investments in Turkey increased by 120%. A significant step has also been recently taken in direct investment of Chinese companies in Turkey. The investment period was initiated with the acquisition of 24.5% of TekstilBank shares in 2015 by Industry and Commerce Bank of China (ICBC). This was followed by the purchase of Kumport Ports, Demirer Kablo, Netaş Telekom, and Trendyol shares by Chinese companies in the following years. Various significant Chinese banking, finance, and transportation corporations including Bank of China, ICBC, Huawei, CRRC Railway, Cosco Pacific are now active in Turkey. What do Chinese companies think about the Turkish market? What situations do they face when realizing their projects? Can Chinese investments pace up in the post-Covid-19 period?

Moderator

Şeref Oğuz, Chairman of the Editorial Board of Dünya Gazetesi

Speakers

Korkut Durgun, Huafon, Finance Director

Dong Juntao, Vice President at POWERCHINA Eurasia

Marco Xu, Huawei, VP of Huawei CEE&Nordic Region, Director of Public Relation Department