Xi planning to visit Turkmenistan
ASHGABAT. May 21 (Interfax) - Chinese President Xi Jinping has sent a letter to Turkmen President Serdar Berdimuhamedov to confirm that he accepts the invitation to visit Turkmenistan and to support joint projects.
"I attach great importance to the development of the Chinese-Turkmen comprehensive, strategic partnership and wish to maintain close working contacts with you," the newspaper Neutral Turkmenistan quoted Xi's letter to Berdimuhamedov.
"I am grateful for your invitation and ready to visit Turkmenistan at a time convenient to both sides. The two foreign ministries may discuss the issue in close contact," Xi said.
"You have mentioned a number of major cooperation projects of China and Turkmenistan in your letter. The Chinese side invariably supports the enhancement of the mutually advantageous bilateral partnership in various areas, and the Chinese-Turkmen Cooperation Committee may thoroughly consider the proposals and implement them under respective circumstances," he said.
"The Chinese side is ready to interact with Turkmenistan in setting new, illustrative examples of cooperation and in continuous enriching of the content of the Community of Common Destiny of China and Turkmenistan," Xi said.
As reported, the Turkmen-Chinese Intergovernmental Cooperation Committee discussed possible projects in transport, logistics, chemical, textile and construction industries, agriculture, railway infrastructure upgrade, development of digital technologies, and AI implementation at a meeting in April.
A package of documents was signed at the end of the meeting, including a Turkmen-Chinese intergovernmental cooperation program for the period until 2030, a general intergovernmental agreement on the main principles of gas cooperation, an intergovernmental memorandum on cooperation in transport and logistics, and a number of interagency documents.
Also in April, the Turkmen state company Turkmengaz and Amudarya Petroleum Company Ltd., a subsidiary of China's CNPC, signed a contract for the turn-key equipment of the 4th phase of the Galkynysh gas field and started to implement it.
