ANKARA - With enormous economic power and impressive growth rate, China's influence across the globe is gaining strength, a Turkish economist said while projecting better cooperation between Turkey and China in the future.

In an interview with Xinhua, Ramazan Tas, a professor of economics at Ankara-based Turgut Ozal University said that Chinese economic power will increase despite challenges caused by the euro- zone crisis as well as the lingering problems of the US market.

"I think China does not solely rely on export markets to drive its growth. Its vast market and financial strength alone can be enough to fuel the engine of economy for some time," he said, stressing that purchasing power of the Chinese consumers is on the rise.

Tas underlined that the political influence of China is also on the rise in commensurate with its economic power. "Today China is one of the leading donors to many countries, especially those in Africa, contributing to the social and economic development of the countries in need," he remarked.

Close cooperation

Tas believes Turkey and China, two emerging economies located respectively at the two ends of the Asian continent, have huge potentials in many areas.

Pointing to the increased high-level visits between the two countries, the Turkish expert said that there is strong commitment of both governments to boosting bilateral ties. He said both countries are aiming to forge closer strategic ties in the political field while cooperating in energy, transportation, infrastructure, communication and aerospace.

As G20 members, China and Turkey share the same stance in global financial issues. "Both countries want to reform the international financial bodies like the IMF and the World Bank to let them better represent developing economies," he said.

Investment on the rise

As for the trade imbalance between China and Turkey, Tas pointed out that China is trying to counter its surplus by increasing direct investment in the country.

There are some Chinese companies that have invested heavily or in the process of investing in Turkey. China Avic International Holding is cooperating with its Turkish partner in building a thermal power plant while China's largest wind power company, Sinovel, intends to invest in Turkey to construct wind turbine towers.

China is also involved in building the Istanbul-Ankara high- speed railway, in both its financing and construction. China's leading telecommunications companies such as Huawei and ZTE are actively running businesses in Turkey.

The Turkish economist further noted that both Chinese and Turkish companies can cooperate in third markets.

Huge potential

He said that Turkey and China are well aware of each other's importance as well as potentials, recognizing the benefits the strong cooperation would bring to both countries.

However, Tas lamented the fact that there is a lack of understanding of each other's markets in the business communities, which hinders further cooperation.

"There should be a lot of promotion and awareness campaigns to raise the knowledge of each other's potential," he said. "But that will take some time to get done."

He hoped that the China and Turkey culture years, namely 2012 and 2013, will help contribute to bilateral understanding through various cultural events across a host of cities.

There is also an increase in Chinese tourists visiting Turkey, though the figure still stays low. In 2002, there were only 30,000 Chinese visiting Turkey while the number reached to 97,000 in 2011, an increase of 223 percent in a decade.

Tas emphasized that both countries need to invest jointly in developing human capital through cultural and education exchange programs. "If we have enough pool of human resources that understand each other's culture and can speak both languages, we can cover a lot of road in many areas at a much faster pace."