Istanbul hosts Turkey-China Academic Cooperation Ceremony

CPC Deputy Minister of the International Department Jin Xin and Chinese Consul General in Istanbul Wei Xiaodong attended the Turkey-China Academic Cooperation Ceremony held in Istanbul. At the ceremony, the Chinese Deputy Minister stated: “China-Turkey friendship will continue to develop, and cooperation between the two countries will contribute to regional and global peace.”

The ceremony, organized by Minerva Academic publishing house and Contemporary World Press, one of China's leading publishers, featured the launch of the book “Subtle Manifestations of the Dao-Mind: Strategic Culture and Historical Implications in the Context of China’s Unified Dynasties,” which addresses the relationship between China's intellectual heritage and its current development and foreign policy approach.

During the ceremony, the “China’s Development Path Translation and Publishing Center,” which covers translation and academic cooperation, was inaugurated between Nişantaşı University, Minerva Academic, and Contemporary World Press. The ceremony was attended by Jin Xin, Deputy Minister of the International Department of the Communist Party of China Central Committee; Wei Xiaodong, Consul General of the People's Republic of China in Istanbul; Levent Uysal, founder of Nişantaşı University; and Vice Rector Prof. Dr. Uğur Yozgat, as well as numerous figures from the worlds of academia, publishing, and media.

In the later part of the program, an academic panel was held, moderated by Minerva Academic director Assoc. Prof. Dr. Efe Can Gürcan, with Marmara University faculty member Prof. Dr. Barış Doster, Sabancı University Istanbul Policy Center senior expert Dr. Altay Atlı, and Istanbul Gedik University ASEAN Center Director Sibel Karabel as speakers. The event, which was also co-organized by Harici Medya, concluded with the launch of a new documentary addressing cooperation opportunities between Turkey and China and a short video screening.

One of the prominent themes at the ceremony was the institutionalization of Turkey-China relations not only in diplomatic or economic terms but also through intellectual, cultural, and publishing dimensions. In this context, the “China’s Development Path Translation and Publishing Center,” inaugurated by CPC Deputy Minister Jin Xin and Nişantaşı University Founder Levent Uysal, was presented as a new joint platform aiming to bring works regarding China’s development experience, governance approach, and strategic thought tradition into different languages, primarily Turkish. The speakers pointed out that the center would establish a permanent foundation for mutual knowledge production, academic circulation, and translation activities between the two countries.

In his speech, CPC Central Committee International Department Deputy Minister Jin Xin emphasized that relations between China and Turkey are shaped not only by current geopolitical convergence but also by a multi-layered civilizational interaction dating back to the Ancient Silk Road. Stating that inter-civilizational interaction and mutual learning are fundamental driving forces for human progress, Jin said that in the face of global challenges, the concept of “civilizational superiority” and zero-sum thinking must be abandoned. Emphasizing the importance of developing new cooperation channels based on equality, dialogue, and inclusivity, Jin Xin stated that the newly opened center is an important academic platform that will explain China’s development experience to Turkey and regional countries in a more systematic manner. In the same speech, he noted that the introduced English book would contribute to a better understanding of China’s peaceful cultural tradition, and that the documentary project would bring the friendship between the two countries to wider audiences.

Chinese Consul General in Istanbul Wei Xiaodong said in his speech that the newly opened center would take cultural and academic ties between Turkey and China to a “new level.” Defining China’s development model within the framework of a people-oriented approach, reform-governance balance, technology-supported management, and independent innovation, Wei stated that China is open to sharing its experience and is ready to develop cooperation with other countries, including Turkey, against common problems. Wei Xiaodong expressed that Turkey and China have been connected throughout history via the Silk Road, and that today, the common development perspective is being strengthened in the context of the Belt and Road Initiative. Reminding that Turkish language education is provided at 11 universities in China and that 4 Confucius Institutes are operating in Turkey, Wei emphasized that academic and cultural interaction holds strategic importance for social mutual understanding. “We should see books as a tool and knowledge as a bridge,” said Wei, adding that publishing and translation cooperation would strengthen the rapprochement between the two peoples.

CPC Central Committee International Department Deputy Minister Jin Xin

Nişantaşı University Vice Rector Prof. Dr. Uğur Yozgat pointed to the importance of cooperation between Turkish and Chinese academia in his speech. Stating that Chinese academia has risen to a leading position on a global scale in many fields in recent years, Yozgat said, “As Istanbul Nişantaşı University, we see this rise as a strategic opportunity and attach special importance to deepening our relations with Chinese academic institutions.” The Vice Rector expressed his expectations that Turkish–Chinese academic cooperation would contribute to the construction of a more inclusive and innovative academic order not only between the two countries but also on a global scale.

In the evaluations highlighting the launch of the work Subtle Manifestations of the Dao-Mind (Dao Zihninin İnce Tezahürleri: Çin’in Birleşik Hanedanlıkları Bağlamında Stratejik Kültür ve Tarihsel Çıkarımlar), which was brought into English by Minerva Academic, the continuity between China’s historical strategic culture and its current diplomatic and political orientation was emphasized. It was stated that the work, published in Chinese in 2025 by Contemporary World Press and written by Zhu Zhongbo, examines China’s ancient grand strategy and strategic culture through the Qin, Western Han, Eastern Han, Sui, and Tang dynasties. In a video message sent to the event, author Zhu Zhongbo stated that Chinese strategic culture is based on peace, virtuous governance, innovation, and long-term thinking; and that it has developed a political approach based on moral principles against power politics and the pursuit of hegemony. It was stated that the book serves as an important reference for understanding the character of contemporary Chinese diplomacy and for looking at global governance debates from a historical perspective.

Consul General of the People's Republic of China in Istanbul Wei Xiaodong

The common message given at the academic panel was that the relationship between Turkey and China should be strengthened not only at the state level but also through new channels between universities, publishing houses, researchers, and the public.

The documentary, which began production in partnership with Contemporary World Press and Harici Medya, was introduced by director Çağatay Yurt. In his speech, Yurt said, “We have launched a documentary project that tells the story of the journey of two ancient civilizations like China and Turkey in the modern world, aiming to touch upon the richness this interaction brings to the peoples of the two countries.” Director Yurt emphasized that the documentary will seek an answer to the question, "Should civilizations clash, or should they nourish each other?" through Turkish university students, young academics, and digital world opinion leaders who know and witness Chinese and Turkish cultures closely. The filming of the documentary will take place in Istanbul, Antalya Belek, Aksaray, and Lake Tuz.

The speeches made at the ceremony revealed that translation activities, joint publishing projects, academic panels, and visual-documentary works aim to build a deeper mutual understanding between the two countries. In this respect, the ceremony in Istanbul stood out as a multi-layered initiative that brings together the fields of cultural diplomacy, academic cooperation, and publishing under the same roof.