Turkey is open to an improved bid from China in a long-range missile defense system tender, the Turkish president said on Tuesday before heading to Beijing.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's comments show his desire to strengthen his country's relationship with China, analysts said.
Asked about the long-running talks between the two countries over the Chinese surface-to-air missile system, Erdogan said that China offered the "most appropriate" price of any missile supplier and has also offered to share missile technology with Turkey.
"Some developments have caused impediments. We'll discuss these issues again during this visit. Any offer that will enrich this appropriate proposal will be welcomed by us," said Erdogan.
Turkey accepted a bid from the China Precision Machinery Import-Export Corporation in 2013 for a $3.4 billion anti-missile system but the final agreement is yet to be signed.
Turkey has also been in talks with U.S. defense contractor Raytheon, the producer of the Patriot defense system, and with French-Italian company Eurosam over their missile system.
"This deal will influence the NATO weapon market since memberstates usually buy weapons from other NATO countries. The U.S. and Europe may not be pleased to see Turkey make such a deal with China," Pan Guang, a research fellow at the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times.
"It is likely China will seal the deal, considering that Erdogan is pushing a more friendly policy toward other countries in Asia, especially China," said Tang Zhichao, a Middle East analyst at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.
China also offers a low price and has promised to sell the technology along with the weapon itself, Tang added.
Erdogan told reporters that he believes this visit will add greater momentum to bilateral relations and his country seeks to boost its ties with China at all levels as part of the "strategic cooperation" agreed upon by the two countries in 2010.
"If the deal is inked during this visit, it will be a good opportunity to further strengthen an all-around strategic partnership between China and Turkey. The two countries could have more economic and military cooperation which would, among other things, aid peacekeeping work in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region," Tang told the Global Times.
Violent protests broke out in Istanbul earlier in July, with mobs targeting the Chinese consulate, a Chinese restaurant and a group of Korean tourists who were mistaken for Chinese people, after reports claimed Uyghurs - a Turkic ethnic group in China - were being prevented from participating in Ramadan, the Muslim holy month.
China has denied these allegations, stating that all ethnic groups are entitled to freedom of religious belief.
