China supporting expansion of co-op with Turkmenistan

The Chinese government attaches great importance to all kinds of cooperation with Turkmenistan, said Song Tao, minister of the International Liaison Department of the Chinese Communist Party, Trend reports.

He made the remarks at the meeting with Turkmenistan’s President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov in Ashgabat, the Turkmen Vatan TV channel reported June 15.

The sides noted during the meeting that in recent years, despite the global financial and economic crisis, there is a process of constructive interstate dialogue, which has a long-term and strategic character.

The cooperation between Turkmenistan and China develops in the areas of energy, transportation and communications, computer technologies and education. About 5,000 Turkmen students study at the Chinese universities.

A separate topic of the meeting was the partnership in the field of transportation, considering the idea of revival of the “Great Silk Road” and Turkmenistan’s role as an important transportation and transit center.

China is the largest buyer of Turkmen gas. The China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) is developing the Bagtyyarlyk onshore field on the right coast of the Amu Darya River on the basis of a production sharing agreement (PSA).