The purpose of the research. The article discusses the process of nation building in Turkey. The influence of nation-building on the transition of the Ottoman Empire to a modern nation-state is analyzed. The purpose of the research is to identify the influence of Turkism in the construction of the Turkish nation, emerging in the second half of the 19th century, and its influence on Chinese-Turkish relations. As grounds, the influence of foreign Turkic intellectuals and Turkish intelligentsia on the construction of the Turkish nation is highlighted. Results. As a result of the study, the author comes to the conclusion that Turkism does not fundamentally differ from Western ideas about nation building. It should be noted that the genesis of Turkism became entirely possible thanks to the borrowing of the methods of Western social science and the adoption of the principle of language as the most important. In the conditions of development, Turkism tries to use the principles of Orientalism and linguistics. However, in modern Turkey, Turkism/Pan-Turkism has always shown a tendency towards extremism that transcends the boundaries of the nation-state. The author concludes that dissatisfaction with the nation-state and self-identification makes pan-Turkism the desire of many people in Turkey to go beyond the territorial nation-state. A number of examples from the history of foreign policy have emerged and Ankara's repeated gross interference in China's internal affairs for diplomatic purposes.