Giant Chinese companies have been eyeing partnership opportunities with Turkish airline companies given the anticipation that the number of Chinese tourists visiting Turkey will rise to 1 million in two years.
A Chinese company operating in the tourism industry has launched an initiative to partner with Onur Air both to grab a share of the growing passenger market between Turkey and China and to carry Chinese tourists to Europe with Istanbul-connected flights. Qian Minjian, deputy general manager in charge of relations with Turkey at the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said Chinese companies are open to cooperation with Turkish ones, adding that more Chinese companies will invest in Turkey.
​Chinese companies continue to invest in Turkey in a number of areas including energy, infrastructure and banking. Parallel with the rise in political relations between the two countries in recent years, Chinese companies continue to search for new investment opportunities in the country. Finally, Chinese companies have made moves to form partnerships with the Turkish aviation industry considering the increase in the number of Chinese citizens coming to Turkey. Last year, a total of 394,000 Chinese tourists came to Turkey, up by 59 percent. The number of Chinese tourists in Turkey is expected to soar to 500,000 this year as a result of Chinese airline companies starting flights to Istanbul Airport.