China's Foothold in Türkiye's Digital Ecosystem

Authors:

  • Marianna Serveta

Publish date: 2025-11-28

Report number: FOI-R--5807--SE

Pages: 73

Written in: English

Keywords:

  • Türkiye
  • China
  • NATO
  • Digital Silk Road
  • cybersecurity
  • surveillance
  • digital ecosystem
  • telecom
  • e-commerce
  • digital pay
  • fintech
  • smart city
  • security information systems
  • cloud
  • data centres
  • strategic autonomy
  • investment
  • Sweden

Abstract

This study explores the areas and extent of Chinese business engagement in Türkiye's digital ecosystem. It finds considerable and multi-layered engagement, in the form of investment and cooperation agreements, which have enabled China to establish a strong foothold across all areas that comprise a digital ecosystem: telecommunications infrastructure, economic platforms and financial technology, cloud computing and smart-city technologies. The study's underlying theoretical assumption is that Chinese entrenchment in a country's digital ecosystem gives Beijing leverage to engage in activities of weaponisation. Therefore, the study also reflects on a wide array of risks associated with China's foothold in Türkiye's information technology and digital infrastructure, both for Türkiye itself and for its Western allies, and, by extension, for Swedish interests and security.