BAKU, Azerbaijan, February 5
By Amina Nazarli - Trend:
Turkmenistan is ready to collaborate with China to increase the volume of natural gas supplies through the construction of the 4th pipeline on the Central Asia-China route, said President of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov, Trend reports citing Turkmenportal.
He made the statement during the talks with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in Beijing.
Berdimuhamedov noted that thanks to the two countries’ joint efforts, cooperation has achieved great development in recent years, especially in the field of oil and gas.
He said that Turkmenistan and China are the most sincere and reliable friends and partners.
Xi Jinping, for his part, stressed that the partnership between the two countries has made considerable development in the 30 years since diplomatic relations were established. He emphasized that cooperation in the sphere of natural gas efficiently contributes to the two nations' economic and social growth and has extensive opportunities.
The previous three branches of the Central Asia-China gas pipeline include three parallel branches (A, B, and C) and run along the Turkmenistan-Uzbekistan-Kazakhstan-China route. Turkmenistan supplies the majority of China's gas supplies, which range from 35 to 40 billion cubic meters per year. Natural gas is delivered to 25 Chinese provinces and Hong Kong.
Turkmen natural gas supply to China should increase to 65 billion cubic meters per year once the fourth branch of the gas pipeline is operational in accordance with previous agreements.