{"id":3881,"date":"2017-08-10T13:20:41","date_gmt":"2017-08-10T13:20:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.iuhrdf.org\/en\/2017\/08\/10\/what-turkey-doing-while-china-gets-close-europe-through-silk-road\/"},"modified":"2017-08-10T13:20:41","modified_gmt":"2017-08-10T13:20:41","slug":"what-turkey-doing-while-china-gets-close-europe-through-silk-road","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/iuhrdf.org\/en\/what-turkey-doing-while-china-gets-close-europe-through-silk-road\/","title":{"rendered":"What is Turkey doing while China gets close to Europe through the Silk Road?"},"content":{"rendered":"

hurriyet daily news <\/a><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

How many years will it take for <\/span>China<\/a> to become a \u201csuperpower\u201d? This was the first question that came to my mind when I recently noticed in the supermarket that the even the pumpkin seeds I bought had been imported from China. It is quite bizarre that Turkey imports the pumpkin seeds from China, when its people may be considered the world champions in the eating of pumpkin seeds, a favourite snack in the country. <\/span>

But I also had another shock. To my surprise, the raw ingredient of the tomato sauce on top of Italian pizzas also comes from China.<\/span>

According to <\/span>French<\/a>journalist<\/a> Jean Baptise Malet, who researches the global tomato industry in his book \u201cRed Gold\u2019s Empire,\u201d Italians buy the tomato puree from China, add water, salt, etc., and market it with a \u201cMade in Italy\u201d marker. I will return to this interesting subject again at the earliest possible opportunity.<\/span>

But today\u2019s main topic is Chinese leader Xi Jinping\u2019s $900 billion project, dubbed the \u201cNew Silk Road.\u201d<\/span>
China\u2019s project, which has been promoted through intense lobbying activities, involves 4 billion people and 60 countries with two sub-projects: The \u201cSilk Road Economy Zone\u201d and the \u201c21st Century Sea Silk Route.\u201d<\/span>

Beijing aims to achieve more than one thing at once with modern history\u2019s most extensive development project, promoted as \u201cOne Belt, One Road\u201d (OBOR). These aims include ensuring political superiority over its neighbours, eliminating regional inequality, fusing capacity surplus by entering new markets, and shifting production from east to west.<\/span>

One of China\u2019s biggest fears of is the flocking of Chinese producers to Southeast Asia. For this reason, while they are shift production to the west, they also plan to open production space for nearly 240 million Chinese farmers.<\/span>

One of their biggest goals is to open the country\u2019s west to Europe, which is now their biggest commercial partner.<\/span>

According to World Bank data, the Chinese economy is currently worth almost half of the EU economy ($18.5 trillion versus $10.4 trillion). <\/span>

The new Silk Road will certainly enhance trade by drawing <\/span>China<\/a> and the EU closer to each other. In recent months, progress was made on bringing <\/span>China<\/a> and <\/span>Europe<\/a> closer together, and it involves Turkey. One of Turkey\u2019s leading logistics companies, Ekol, has started a train service between <\/span>China<\/a> and Hungary, putting a project of its company in Hungary into operation. <\/span>

Ahmet Musul, the chairman of the executive board of Ekol, told me that the train, put into service at the beginning of April, covered a distance of 9,300 kilometres, reaching Budapest through Kazakhstan, Russia, Belarus, Poland and Slovakia. Thanks to a subsidy from the Chinese government, today three trains are departing from the city of Yiwu to Budapest.<\/span>

\u201cA train departing from the east of <\/span>China<\/a> arrives in Hungary in 17 days. In the past, products reached <\/span>Europe<\/a> in two months by sea and train,\u201d Musul said.<\/span>

The key point is this:  Within the new Silk Road, as long as <\/span>China<\/a> shifts production west and makes its infrastructure stronger, products from <\/span>China<\/a> will be able to reach <\/span>Europe<\/a>in a shorter period. \u201cIn five years, <\/span>China<\/a> might be able to transport its products to <\/span>Europe<\/a> in seven or eight days,\u201d Musul added.<\/span>

He also said they planned to increase train services and connect <\/span>China<\/a> to other European cities in the future. <\/span>

Listening to all this, a number of questions sprung to my mind. For example, how will <\/span>China<\/a> and <\/span>Europe<\/a> getting closer influence our sectors, such as the textile sector?<\/span>

Also, have we not for many years been hearing that Turkey had a competitive advantage in the sector against <\/span>China<\/a> due to the shorter distance between Turkey and Europe? This being the case, are we losing this advantage? What\u2019s more, will our electronics and white goods sectors be affected by all this?<\/span>

In sum, as <\/span>China<\/a> gets closer to Europe, is Turkey developing any serious strategy?<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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