China pledges to enhance cooperation, boost ties with Turkmenistan

China firmly supports Turkmenistan in safeguarding its sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity and pursuing a development path suited to its national conditions, said Chinese Vice Premier Ding Xuexiang on Wednesday.

Ding, who paid a visit to Turkmenistan from Tuesday to Wednesday, made the remarks when meeting with Turkmen President Serdar Berdimuhamedov in Ashgabat, capital of Turkmenistan.

Noting that China is a trustworthy friend and partner of Turkmenistan, Ding, also a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, spoke highly of the achievement made by the two sides under the leadership of the two heads of state.

China-Turkmenistan cooperation is highly complementary, and enjoys huge potential and broad prospects, said the vice premier, calling on the two sides to tap cooperation potential, continue to deepen and expand cooperation in key areas, and turn the grand blueprint laid out by the leaders of the two countries into real results, so as to better benefit the two peoples.

China is ready to work with Turkmenistan and other Central Asian countries to steadily advance the building of the China-Central Asia cooperation mechanism, Ding said.

Berdimuhamedov asked Ding to convey his cordial greetings to Chinese President Xi Jinping, and said that the all-round cooperation between the two countries is strategic, long-term and special.

Turkmenistan stands ready to work with China to enhance strategic communication, deepen cooperation in all fields and promote its comprehensive strategic partnership with China to a new height, Berdimuhamedov said.

He said that Turkmenistan firmly supports the China-Central Asia cooperation mechanism and is willing to work with China to jointly promote regional peace, stability, development and prosperity.

During his visit, Ding also held talks with Turkmenistan's Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Rashid Meredov, and co-chaired with Meredov the sixth Meeting of the China-Turkmenistan Cooperation Committee.

The two sides had in-depth exchange of views during the meeting and mapped out priorities of cooperation between the two countries in the next phase.

The two sides agreed to further synergize their development strategies, increase the scale of economic, trade and investment cooperation, continue to deepen natural gas cooperation, accelerate consultations on the alignment of priority economic projects, and carry out more cooperation on non-resource projects.

On people-to-people exchanges, the two sides agreed to ensure the success of activities related to the Year of Culture, and promote the early implementation of projects such as the establishment of cultural centers, the establishment of Luban Workshops and traditional medicine centers in Turkmenistan.

On security cooperation, the two sides agreed to deepen counter-terrorism cooperation, and jointly combat the "three forces" of terrorism.

After the meeting, Ding and Meredov witnessed the signing of a series of cooperation documents, including those on deepening science and technology cooperation and on international road transportation.