Turkish bosses call for easing of China's visa restrictions

Turkey's top business organization has called for an easing of visa procedures by China, in order to boost bilateral economic and trade ties. 

"We attach great importance to accelerating the process in the Visa Facilitation Agreement with China in order for our bilateral trade and investment ties to get a greater boost," Turkish Business and Industry Association (TÜSİAD) head Cansen Başaran-Symes said at a conference on Dec. 16. 

"Since 2016, much tighter visa procedures have been introduced by China for Turkish citizens, and it has become more difficult for Turks to obtain visas," she added in a speech at the Understanding China and Doing Business with China conference, organized by TÜSİAD and its joint economic research forum unit at Koç University. 

Başaran-Symes also praised the completion of a 450 million Turkish Lira ($132.55 million) swap transaction at the end of November by the Turkish unit of Chinese lender ICBC.

"China now constitutes 15 percent of the global economy with a GDP of $10.86 trillion in 2015. Its contribution to global economic growth is 25 percent. This is a very important figure, and is expected to further rise in the next five years," she said. 

Başaran-Symes said the impact of the Chinese yuan has been growing since last year, when the yuan was included in the IMF's currency basket. But she also underlined recent slower growth rates in the Chinese economy. 

"Double-digit growth figures were replaced by the 'new normal' of economic growth at 6.9 percent in 2015, which is expected to be around 6.7 percent in 2016. In this new model, the pendulum has swung more to domestic consumption innovation and high-tech industries, rather than exports and investment spending," she said, adding that...