President of Turkmenistan Serdar Berdimuhamedov, speaking at the first "Central Asia - China" offline summit in Xi'an, proposed to continue to work on implementing new projects related to the supply of Turkmen natural gas to China, the official Turkmen media reported on Thursday.
"Taking into account Turkmenistan's energy policy based on diversification of Turkmen energy supplies to international markets and in case the parties are interested, we could continue to work on implementing new projects related to supplies of Turkmen natural gas to China," President Berdimuhamedov said.
According to the Chinese Foreign Ministry press release, Chinese President Xi Jinping said in his speech at the Summit that China would like to propose the creation of an energy development partnership between China and Central Asia. "We should expedite the construction of Line D of the China-Central Asia Gas Pipeline, expand trade in oil and gas, and pursue cooperation throughout the energy industrial chains," Xi Jinping said.
"A real and positive example of concrete cooperation in this area is the Turkmenistan-China gas pipeline, thanks to which our Chinese partners are currently developing their industry and meeting the needs of the Chinese population in natural gas," the President of Turkmenistan said.
The Head of State also emphasized that, at the same time, the Turkmenistan-China gas pipeline has provided transit countries in the region with opportunities to supply their energy resources to the Chinese market.
President Berdimuhamedov on Thursday held talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping as part of a working visit to China. Following the summit talks in Xi'an, several bilateral documents were signed, including the Agreement on Cooperation and Mutual Assistance in Customs Affairs, the Memorandum of Understanding on Media Cooperation, and the Memorandum of Cooperation and Mutual Exchange between the Democratic Party of Turkmenistan and the Chinese Communist Party.
