Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, April 19
By Huseyn Hasanov- Trend:
Ashgabat and Beijing are preparing for the upcoming state visit of Turkmenistan`s President Gurbangulu Berdimuhamedov to China.
The Turkmen delegation paid a working visit to Beijing for the preparation of the visit and met with the Chinese Assistant Foreign Minister Zhang Kunsheng, the Turkmen government reported on April 19.
The Turkmen delegation also held a meeting with the leadership of China Horse Industry Association on the issues of preparation of an extraordinary forum of the
International Association of Akhal-Teke Horse Breeding in China.
The report said that the impulse to expand cooperation between the two countries has been given during the September 2013 visit of the Chinese President Xi Jinping to Turkmenistan.
A steady growth is observed in the trade turnover between Turkmenistan and China, and its annual capacity is around $9 billion.
China has recently become a key buyer of Turkmen gas and expects to increase annual purchases up to 65 billion cubic meters.
Besides the gas industry, China is actively cooperating with Turkmenistan in the supply of equipment and services for transport and communications.
Turkmenistan ranks fourth among the largest natural gas reserves in the world. It is one of the key players in the energy market in the Caspian region and Central Asia.
The issues of improving the travel procedures of entrepreneurs involved in large-scale joint projects are being studied.
Ashgabat and Beijing have recently agreed measures to promote and protect mutual investments to support commercial enterprises for their activity in the territory of the countries