Deputy Chairman of Turkmen Government, Foreign Minister Rashid Meredov and Chinese State Councilor, Foreign Minister Wang Yi in talks in Beijing on Friday agreed to strengthen cooperation between countries in areas such as natural gas, healthcare, transportation and culture.
The officials exchanged views on the preparations for the upcoming meeting between the two countries' Heads of State, Xinhua news agency reports.
Wang Yi said China welcomes the Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov's special visit to China to attend the opening ceremony of the Beijing Winter Olympics.
China will work with Turkmenistan to implement the important consensus reached by the two leaders and advance the long-term, stable and sustainable development of cooperation in energy and other key areas, Wang added.
Meredov said Turkmenistan is a reliable strategic partner of China and the friendly relations between the two countries have enjoyed a strong momentum of development in recent years.
The Turkmen Foreign thanked China for offering strong and effective support in fighting the pandemic, and expressed willingness of the Turkmen side to deepen cooperation in areas including energy and infrastructure to lift bilateral relations.
The sides also exchanged views on cooperation between China and five Central Asian countries, as well as the Afghanistan issue.
Turkmenistan is the main supplier of pipeline gas of China. The country exported around 34 billion cubic meters (bcm) of gas to China last year.
President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov told Chinese state media in an interview before his visit to Beijing that Ashgabat is working to increase deliveries of natural gas to China and to this end, is ready to discuss the building of the fourth pipeline route from Turkmenistan to China.
