BEIJING - Turkey would like to strengthen ties with China, a country it sees as sharing a positive economic outlook as well as many global concerns in the United Nations and G20, the Turkish ambassador said ahead of Vice-President Xi Jinping's visit to his country on Monday.

"The visit will be a historic milestone in bilateral relations and consolidate ties which have made substantial progress in every field imaginable since 2009," said Turkish Ambassador to China Murat Salim Esenli.

According to the Turkish embassy in Beijing, trade between the two countries totaled almost $25 billion in 2011 and there are aims to increase it to $50 billion a year by 2015 and $100 billion by 2020.

"Political stability, structural economic reforms, coupled with the prudent and tight fiscal and monetary policies of Turkey, have paved the way for uninterrupted growth from 2002 till the end of 2008," which has made Turkey one of the fastest growing economies in the world, the ambassador said.

However, Turkish trade with China is currently dominated by imports from China, which totaled $21 billion in 2011, with only $3 billion in exports.

In the short term, Turkey would like to even the balance more by attracting increased Chinese direct investment while maintaining a steady rise in Turkish exports in the long term, said Esenli.

Turkey's strategic location, dynamic economy, large domestic market, trade incentives, liberal legal system, and skilled labor force offer numerous opportunities to foreign investors in industries such as banking, construction, energy and mining, he added.

"Our two governments have been working on various agreements, which will constitute a new basis for our bilateral economic and trade relations," Esenli said. "The signing and implementation of those agreements will give a boost to our already resonant economic ties."

During Turkish President Abdullah Gul's visit to China in 2009, President Hu Jintao proposed taking the two nations' friendly and cooperative relationship to new heights.

The following year, when Premier Wen Jiabao visited Turkey, the two countries signed eight deals in areas including trade, energy facilities and railway networks that would help connect Istanbul to Beijing through a "modern silk road".

"With the completion of the transportation projects which are under way, the interaction between Turkish and Chinese people will be substantially improved. This advantage will have an enormous impact on our economic relations as well," the Turkish ambassador added.

Turkish people are well aware of China's position in the global economy, politics and culture, so there is growing curiosity about Chinese culture, he said.

"There are even some popular soap operas on Turkish television based on stories from Chinese history."

Esenli added that the number of Chinese tourists to Turkey had soared to more than 100,000 in 2011 due to increasing cooperation on air transportation, tourism promotion and visa procedures.

China Daily