President of Turkmenistan meets with Xi Jinping in Beijing

President of Turkmenistan Serdar Berdimuhamedov held an official meeting with President of the People's Republic of China Xi Jinping at the House of People's Assemblies of China within the framework of his working visit to the People's Republic of China. This is reported by the State News Agency of Turkmenistan.

The head of Turkmenistan arrived in Beijing by a special train from Tianjin, where high-level talks were held in the afternoon.

President Xi Jinping congratulated President Berdimuhamedov on the successful holding of the Third UN Conference on Landlocked Developing Countries in the Avaza tourist zone. The Chinese leader reaffirmed support for Turkmenistan's permanent neutrality, independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity.

They paid special attention to the upcoming anniversary - in 2025 will mark 30 years of international recognition of Turkmenistan's permanent neutrality. Xi Jinping noted China's important role in the adoption of the historic UN General Assembly Resolution on this issue.

The parties discussed energy cooperation. The Turkmenistan-China gas pipeline has been successfully functioning for more than fifteen years, and the Chinese side won an international tender for the development of the fourth stage of the large gas field "Galkynyş". A draft General Agreement on the basic principles of gas cooperation between the two countries has been prepared.

The leaders noted the complementary nature of Turkmenistan's "Revival of the Great Silk Road" strategy and China's "One Belt, One Road" initiative.

President Serdar Berdimuhamedov invited President Xi Jinping to an international forum in Ashgabat on December 12 to commemorate the 30th anniversary of Turkmenistan's neutrality. Also discussed was Turkmenistan's initiative to declare 2025 the "International Year of Peace and Trust" by decision of the UN General Assembly.

Four memorandums of understanding were signed during the visit: between the Institute of International Relations of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan and Lanzhou University, on cooperation in the field of intellectual property, between the museums of the two countries, as well as between the editorial boards of the newspapers "Altyn asyr" and "Renmin Zhibao".