China, Turkmenistan ready to promote co-op in various areas

Visiting Chinese Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli and Turkmen Deputy Prime Minister Baymyrat Hojamuhammedov agreed Wednesday to deepen cooperation in areas of energy, trade, transport and culture as well as in the fight against terrorism.

The consensus was reiterated at the third meeting of the China-Turkmenistan Cooperation Committee which was co-chaired by Zhang and Hojamuhammedov.

During the meeting, Zhang said the ties between China and Turkmenistan have been growing continuously in recent years, with mutual political trust reaching unprecedented high.

The two countries have become true strategic partners as they firmly supported each other on major issues concerning each other's core interests, made breakthroughs in key areas of cooperation, and reached major consensus on building the Silk Road Economic Belt, Zhang said.

The China-Turkmenistan Cooperation Committee has done large amounts of efficient work to facilitate the development of the bilateral relations, he said.

Under new circumstances, further consolidating the China-Turkmenistan strategic partnership is of great significance to the stability and development of both countries, Zhang said.

He urged the China-Turkmenistan Cooperation Committee to strengthen strategic cooperation on energy by securing safe and stable operation of the natural gas pipeline.

He said the committee should work on optimizing the structure of bilateral trade, expanding transport cooperation, facilitating people-to-people exchanges and advancing the development of the Silk Road Economic Belt.

Zhang said the committee should also work on expanding people-to-people exchanges by staging Culture Day activities and promoting exchanges between universities, media and local governments of the two countries.

He said the committee should also deepen security cooperation in the fight against the three evil forces of terrorism, separatism and extremism. The two sides should further enhance the capability of preventing and addressing major emergency security incidents.

Zhang's view was echoed by his counterpart Hojamuhammedov who stressed that enhancing Turkmenistan-China strategic partnership and mutually beneficial cooperation always tops the agenda of Turkmenistan's foreign policies.

The recent years have witnessed a robust progress of pragmatic cooperation in various areas between the pals, he added.

Noting that China has become the largest market for Turkmen exports,Hojamuhammedov said Turkmenistan will continue to work with China in deepening cooperation in oil and gas, trade, investment, transport, agriculture, as well as education and culture.