Chen Bingde stresses military ties with Turkmenistan

A senior Chinese military official said Monday that as an important part of China-Turkmenistan relations, ties between the two armed forces have witnessed rapid development over the past years.

Chen Bingde, chief of General Staff of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA), made the remarks during a meeting with Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov.

Great progress in military ties has substantialized their friendly cooperative relations and made due contributions to safeguarding their common interests and promoting regional peace and stability, said Chen.

Lauding Turkmenistan's long-term support for China on issues such as Taiwan, Xinjiang, Tibet and human rights, Chen said that China respects Turkmenistan's choice for its development path according to their own national conditions and stands ready to make concerted efforts to further advance bilateral friendly cooperative relations.

Berdymukhamedov, for his part, said that high-level military exchanges are of great importance to deepening the friendly cooperative relations between the two nations.

He voiced the hope that the two armed forces will further promote exchanges and cooperation so as to make contributions to the all-round development of bilateral ties.

Also on Monday, Chen held talks with Turkmen Defense Minister Begenc Gundogdiyev and his Turkmen counterpart, Ismail Ismailov.

During their talks, Chen said the Chinese side is willing to strengthen cooperation and coordination with the Turkmen armed forces to jointly safeguard the fundamental interests of both countries and both peoples, and make positive contributions to Central Asia's security and stability as well as world peace.

Gundogdiyev said military ties between the two countries have enormous potential for future development and that Chen's visit will give fresh impetus to the development of their military ties.

Ismailov, for his part, voiced willingness to further deepen mutually beneficial cooperation between the two militaries.