Turkmenistan, Ashgabat, Feb. 10 / Trend H. Hasanov /
Events dedicated to the 20th anniversary of establishing diplomatic relations between Turkmenistan and China are ongoing in Ashgabat, Neutral Turkmenistan newspaper reported on Friday.
The Chinese delegation, which also included culture figures, arrived in Turkmenistan to participate in a gala concert at Vatan cinema in Ashgabat.
"China pays special attention to the development of relations with Turkmenistan, in which China sees a faithful friend and long-term strategic partner," China's Ambassador to Turkmenistan Xiao Qinghua said at the opening events. Further strengthening of dialogue, friendship and cooperation with Turkmenistan is an important part of China's foreign policy strategy, he added.
"A new count down in the relations between the two countries had begun on January 6, 1992. These relations are based on centuries-old political, trade-economic and cultural ties, whose history dates back to the days of the Silk Road, when the territory of Turkmenistan and the Celestial Empire, according to modern science, acted as centers of world civilization," the newspaper wrote.
China has chosen the policy of developing long-term and stable Chinese-Turkmen relations of friendship and the power strategic partnership, president of the People's Republic of China Hu Jintao wrote in his message to the president of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow.
The implementation of joint projects served as approaching between two countries. For example, the ambitious project - construction of the world's longest gas pipeline from Turkmenistan to China via Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan is among them.
China has taken a leading position among the trade partners of Turkmenistan, the Institute of Strategic Planning and Economic Development of Turkmenistan reports. Products for industrial purposes - metal products, machinery, and vehicles mainly dominated in import structure from China to Turkmenistan. Turkmenistan export to China includes natural gas and agricultural products.
Thirty seven Chinese companies operate in Turkmenistan, which master 66 investment projects worth about $4.5 billion and 2.3 billion yuan. Basically, these companies operate in the oil and gas industry, supplying high-tech telecommunications equipment and participate in the implementation of infrastructure projects.
The geographic location of Turkmenistan contributes to the progress of foreign economic relations, which has considerable potential for expansion of transit flows between the two world largest markets - Europe and Southeast Asia.
Turkmenistan is actively working in order to improve transport and communication infrastructure that can meet the intensification and optimization of logistic and resource efficiency of the transit country.