(Yicai Global) Feb. 10 -- Chinese foreign trade practitioners have been trying to contact their Turkish customers to confirm they are safe after a terrific 7.8-magnitude earthquake hit the country and neighboring Syria.

Ding Yandong, the general manager of Chinese roller shutter components maker Ningbo Rollmax Shutter Component, was relieved when late yesterday he finally received a reply from the firm’s Turkish client, who said he was safe for the time being at about 700 kilometers from Istanbul.

A devastating 7.8-magnitude earthquake, followed by a major 7.5-magnitude aftershock, hit Türkiye and Syria on Feb. 6. The epicenter was in southern Türkiye’s Gaziantep province, one of the country’s most important manufacturing areas. The cumulative death toll of the natural disaster exceeded 20,000 -- 17,600 in Türkiye and 3,377 in Syria -- as of 7 a.m. Beijing time, BBC News reported, citing officials.

The quake may affect the travel plans of customers in the short and medium term, but the important is that they are alive, Ding noted.

China is one of Türkiye’s top five trading partners. The total imports and export value between the two countries was USD34.2 billion in 2021, up 42 percent from the previous year. Türkiye is also one of China’s main engineering contracting markets in the Middle East. In 2021, China’s non-financial direct investment in Türkiye reached USD207 million, an over seven-fold increase from 2020.

The earthquake will cause various supply disruptions in the short term, and local industries, ports, logistics, and banks will be also affected to some extent. It will take a long time for the Turkish economy to recover, as it was already facing a serious inflation before the earthquake.

Cai Shaohua, the head of a foreign trade manufacturing company based in the Yangtze River Delta region, is very worried about his Turkish customer who has not yet replied him. He hopes he can hear from his old friend friend soon, so as to provide some help. Twenty percent of Cai’s company’s export orders come from Türkiye, and the factory is still operating normally on orders from the country.

Changxing Novatech Glass has a joint venture glass plant in Türkiye. The company's China director told Yicai Global yesterday that since the factory is in the western region, it has not been significantly affected, and the production and business are normal.

Companies that lost contact with overseas customers should contact the commercial office of the Chinese embassy in Türkiye, so that it can confirm customers’ safety, Sun Tianhong, an expert in import and export dispute prevention and processing, told Yicai Global. For unclaimed goods, companies should communicate with the shipping firms and try to find new customers, Sun added.

Companies whose delivery and collection were affected by the earthquake should go to the chamber of international trade and law firms to make force majeure claims as soon as possible. Moreover, they should pay attention to letter of credit extensions, exchange rate risks, and arrangements of local customs.

Editor: Futura Costaglione