ANKARA, Sept. 2 (Xinhua) -- Türkiye is working to deepen ties with China, exploring opportunities for cooperation in a wide range of fields, including the economy, digital technologies, energy, and health, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was quoted as saying on Tuesday.

On his flight back to Türkiye from the northern Chinese city of Tianjin, where he attended the "Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Plus" meeting, Erdogan described his talks with the Chinese leadership on the sidelines as "productive," state-run broadcaster TRT reported.

"We want to make our economic relations with China, our trade partner, more balanced and sustainable. We will continue consultations with the Chinese side," he said.

Erdogan stressed the importance of fairness in addressing global challenges. "In a world where international systems are blocked, we believe normalization can only be achieved through fair solutions," he added.

The Turkish president also highlighted the important role of the SCO. "By emphasizing economic and trade cooperation, it has acquired a distinctive identity, while also seeking to play a role in resolving global and regional challenges," he said.

The principles of equality, consultation, mutual trust and benefit, respect for differences, and common development, which form the essence of the "Shanghai Spirit," are in harmony with the core approaches of Türkiye's "Asia Anew Initiative" announced in 2019, Erdogan said.

He added that Türkiye, as one of the countries making the greatest efforts for peaceful conflict resolution in its region, welcomes the SCO's efforts to strengthen engagement with dialogue partners, including Türkiye. ■