OREANDA-NEWS. March 03, 2011. A Turkmen government delegation led by Vice Premier B. Hojamuhammedov paid a visit to the People’s Republic of China on the instructions of President of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov on March 1.

The Turkmen delegation was received by President of the People’s Republic of China Hu Jintao. During the meeting the head of the Turkmen delegation handed over a written message from President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov to President Hu Jintao, in which the Turkmen leader said in particular that nowadays Turkmenistan and China maintained an active and task-oriented dialogue in the whole spectrum of bilateral strategic cooperation. It was noted that strengthening the ties with the People’s Republic of China was a major priority of the foreign policy of the Turkmen state, which viewed China as a true friend, dependable and like-minded partner in tackling regional and international political issues. “Turkmenistan highly valued the current level of relationships with the People’s Republic of China,” emphasized the Turkmen leader underscoring the intention of the Turkmen state to develop the constructive intergovernmental dialogue steadily and comprehensively.

Expressing profound gratitude to the President of Turkmenistan for the message, PRC President Hu Jintao focused on the high dynamics of cooperation between the two countries and the personal friendly and sincere relations between the two leaders. Evaluating highly the level of Turkmen-Chinese contacts as a whole and focusing on the prospects for developing bilateral cooperation in the near future, President Hu Jintao put emphasis on dynamics and consistency of the bilateral political dialogue as well as the equal and mutually advantageous basis of trade and economic partnership as illustrated by a significant increase in trade between Turkmenistan and China in 2010. The PRC President expressed belief that cooperation between the two countries would promoted further in a wide range of spheres, including the power industry, development of different sectors of Turkmen economy, implementation of large-scale infrastructure projects. The Chinese leader highly evaluated the effectiveness of bilateral cooperation in the fuel and energy sector as vividly evidenced by successful implementation of the Turkmenistan-China gas pipeline project.

During the meeting it was emphasized that China looked forward with great respect to the Turkmen leader’s visit scheduled for the second half of 2011. The meeting participants expressed belief that the Turkmen-Chinese agreement on additional exports of Turkmen natural gas to China in the amount of 20 billion cubic metres would have been drafted by the Turkmen leader’s visit to China and be signed during the visit.

The head of the Turkmen delegation conveyed the invitation of the President of Turkmenistan to pay an official visit to our country to the President of the People’s Republic. The invitation was accepted with gratitude. Dates of the visit will be adjusted through diplomatic channels.

In China the Turkmen delegation had a meeting with Vice Premier of the State Council Wang Qishan. The talks focused on the specific issues regarding enhancing bilateral economic and energy cooperation. The Framework Agreement between the Government of Turkmenistan and the Government of the People’s Republic on the provision of a loan by the State Development Bank of China JSC to the Turkmengaz State Concern was signed upon concluding the talks.

The Turkmen delegation had the meetings with the leadership of the State Committee on Development and Reform Commission of China, the Energy Agency of China, the China Development Bank and the CNPC Corporation.

The agreements reached during the visit of the Turkmen governmental delegation to the People’s Republic of China illustrated once again the high level of mutual understanding and full cooperation between the two friendly states and nations.