Turkmenistan, Ashgabat, Aug. 22 / Trend. H. Hasanov /
Ashgabat and Beijing are preparing for the first meeting of the subcommittees of the Turkmen-Chinese committee on cooperation in various sectors of the economy, an official Turkmen source said on Monday.
The two countries are implementing a number of projects in the fuel and energy sector, as well as in the chemical industry.
Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdimuhammadov said at the government meeting that a joint meeting "will make a constructive relationship of both countries even more dynamic, opening good prospects to discuss practical issues of cooperation and further partnership strengthening, in particular in the spheres of trade and economics, fuel, the energy sector, and other industries".
China is working actively in Central Asia.
Significant progress is associated with an earlier implemented major project to build a gas pipeline to China from Turkmenistan's eastern fields through Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan. In late 2009 China began to import Turkmen gas under a long-term contract.
Berdimuhammadov plans to pay an official visit to Beijing in 2011, during which an agreement will be signed to increase the Turkmen fuel supplies and enable the supply of 60 bcm of gas per year to China.
Turkmenistan has about 40 enterprises using Chinese capital; about 60 investment projects were registered with Chinese companies' participation. China is represented in projects in the spheres of oil and gas, telecommunication, transport, agriculture, textile, chemical, and food industries, as well as construction.