Chinese President Xi Jinping met with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the port city of Tianjin on Sunday, with the two leaders vowing to jointly safeguard international fairness and justice.

Erdogan is in China to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Summit 2025.

During their talks, Xi pointed out that China and Türkiye, both emerging powers and important members of the Global South, are countries with a strong spirit of independence.

Noting that the steady development of bilateral relations serves the fundamental interests of both nations as well as the common interests of the Global South, Xi said the two sides should follow the trend of peace, development, cooperation and mutual benefit, support each other on the path to national prosperity, and elevate their strategic cooperation to new heights while working together to promote a fairer and more equitable global governance system.

Xi stressed that next year will mark the 55th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between China and Türkiye, which offers an important opportunity to further advance bilateral relations.

He called for consolidating political trust by supporting each other on issues concerning core interests and major concerns, and strengthening cooperation in counter-terrorism and security.

The Chinese president urged deepening practical cooperation by aligning the Belt and Road Initiative with Türkiye's Middle Corridor Initiative, advancing the southern route of the China-Europe freight trains, and raising the level of cooperation in economy, trade, culture and tourism, as well as creating new highlights in fields such as new energy, 5G and biomedicine.

Xi also underscored the need to strengthen multilateral coordination under frameworks such as the United Nations, the G20 and the SCO, so as to uphold international order and fairness and make greater contributions to world peace and stability.

Erdogan, for his part, said Türkiye attaches great importance to developing relations with China and is ready to maintain close high-level exchanges, pursue high-quality Belt and Road cooperation, and enhance trade and investment.

He expressed readiness to expand cooperation in infrastructure, new energy, agriculture and food, and healthcare, while promoting cultural and people-to-people exchanges in education and tourism to ensure the sustained and robust growth of bilateral ties.

Türkiye, he reaffirmed, will firmly adhere to the one-China principle.

Noting that the upcoming SCO summit will be the largest since the organization's founding, Erdogan said Türkiye is willing to strengthen cooperation with China within the SCO framework to advance regional and global development and prosperity.

He added that Türkiye appreciates China's fair stance on Middle East issues and is ready to work with China to jointly safeguard international fairness and justice.