Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will pay a state visit to China on Tuesday. The last time Erdogan, then Turkish prime minister, visited China was in April 2012, the first visit by a prime minister in 27 years. Former president Abdullah Gul visited China in 2009 and 2014.

The visit comes at a sensitive time since there were recently violent anti-China protests in Turkey. This year's G20 summit will be held in Antalya, Turkey in November. Chinese President Xi Jinping will take part in the event. Hangzhou will be the host city for the summit next year. A lot is expected to be discussed between China and Turkey regarding the summit.

Economic development will be another issue on the agenda. At present, the economy in Turkey is just recovering after a sharp slowdown from previously sky-high rates in 2011. The plan, put forward by Erdogan to develop Turkey into one of the top 10 economies in the world by 2023, is highly challenging. While China is the third largest trade partner for Turkey, the deficit between the two countries is huge.

The relationship between China and Turkey has made huge progress in the last few years. Following then Chinese premier Wen Jiabao's visit to Turkey in 2010, the two countries built strategic cooperative relationship with each other. It seems that they have moved beyond the negative effects of the Urumqi riots in 2009. The bilateral relationship has been advanced and the two countries have achieved unprecedented successes in trade, investment, tourism, culture, anti-terrorism and military activities.

In the last few years, the number of Chinese visitors to Turkey has witnessed a rapid increase. In 2014, it reached 200,000, with a year-on-year growth of 43 percent. This is attributed to Turkey's increasingly flexible policy on granting tourist visas to Chinese. This has also reflected the advanced relationship between the two countries. Attracting investment and broadening cooperation in tourism are effective ways for Turkey to balance its trade deficit with China.

Erdogan's visit to China was reportedly fixed in May. Therefore, the visit has no direct link with the anti-Chinese protests that broke out in Turkey days ago. It is not surprising that the visit has triggered all kinds of conjectures, especially about the East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM). After all, the anti-Chinese protests have caused detrimental effects on the bilateral relationship.

Admittedly, the sensitive issue of the ETIM is something China and Turkey have to face and cannot be ignored. Both sides need to deepen communications and build mechanisms to prevent its negative effects on the bilateral relationship. Some Turks are sympathetic toward ETIM forces and are always orchestrating events in order to expand their influence. This will inevitably harm the Beijing-Ankara relationship. The situation will become even more complicated after the issue of the ETIM has been intertwined into the internal affairs of the Ankara government by certain political factions.

Officials from Turkish embassies in Southeast Asia have reportedly been involved in the smuggling of Uyghurs from China. Such behavior will not be accepted by the Chinese government. This will only have a negative impact on China-Turkey ties. The Ankara government should offer explanations to China.

Righteousness is a unique characteristic of China's diplomacy and the Chinese government has long been cautious in dealing with the issues concerning the core benefits of other nations. Therefore, China has so far kept calm and exercised restraint on this issue. The Ankara government should not abuse China's kindness.

If Turkey still acts in disregard of China and sticks to double standards, it will definitely harm the bilateral relationship.

The Ankara government will also have to pay for its own mistakes in the end. Therefore, in terms of the ETIM, both sides should be clear about the severity of this issue, deepen communications and bear the bottom line in mind. The Turkish side should prevent the issue from spiraling out of control.

China and Turkey, both as emerging economies and important regional powers, share a lot of overlapping interests. Respect to each other's core interests is of pivotal importance.

The author is a research fellow at Pangoal Institution, a Beijing-based public policy think tank and an associate professor at Peking University. opinion@globaltimes.com.cn