OREANDA-NEWS. May 16, 2014. The construction of the next section of the Turkmenistan-China gas pipeline, which will run through Tajikistan, will start in the near future, Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov said.

The president made the remarks after his meeting with his Tajik counterpart Emomali Rahmon during his visit to Dushanbe, Tajikistan from May 5 to May 6, Turkmenistan's media outlets reported.

Berdimuhamedov said that the construction of the new section of the Turkmenistan-China pipeline, which will run through Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Kyrgyzstan will start soon, Turkmen Dovlet Khabarlary state news service reported.

As for the regional cooperation, the head of state highlighted the significance of the issues related to collaboration in the sphere of energy, Neutral Turkmenistan newspaper reported.

"Regarding this, Berdimuhamedov underscored that in implementation of its energy policy, Turkmenistan relies on the principles of broad international cooperation and diversification of hydrocarbon supply routes to world markets," the newspaper said.

From the rostrum of the UN, Turkmenistan put forward a number of initiatives in the sphere of ensuring reliable and stable transit of energy resources. At the same time, the country supports the development of cooperation in the interests of all the parties involved - producers, transit countries and consumers.

The China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) and Tajiktransgas company have signed an agreement on laying the fourth branch of the gas pipeline to transport Turkmenistan's natural gas to China.

This was agreed in September 2013, between Berdimuhamedov and Chinese President Xi Jinping, during his state visit to Turkmenistan.

The previous three sections of the Turkmen-Chinese gas pipeline run through Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan. The supply of Turkmen gas started in 2009. The total volume of the natural gas supplied to China via two branches hit 69 billion cubic meters as of early November 2013.

The Turkmenistan-China gas pipeline (or Central Asian pipeline) is the first cross-border gas pipeline in China and is of great importance in terms of meeting the country's demands for natural gas and in regulating the energy structures.