The working visit of President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov to the People’s Republic of China has ended today. As was reported earlier, yesterday the leader of the nation, at the invitation of the President of China, was the guest of honor at the opening ceremony of the 24th Winter Olympic Games in Beijing.

Today, in the first half of the day Beijing time, the head of Turkmen state arrived at the Great Hall of the People, where President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov met with President of the People’s Republic of China Xi Jinping, who warmly welcomed the high guest.

Prior to the meeting, the leaders of the two countries were photographed against the State flags of Turkmenistan and China.

Thanking President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov for accepting the invitation to visit Beijing and take part in the opening ceremony of the 24th Winter Olympic Games, President Xi Jinping highlighted the progressive dynamics of the Turkmen-Chinese cooperation, which has a solid potential in various areas.

Expressing sincere gratitude for the hospitality, as well as for all-round assistance in organizing the visit of the delegation of Turkmenistan to China at the highest level, the leader of the nation stressed that he was very pleased with today’s meeting, which is taking place in the first days of the Chinese New Year. Thanking the head of the People’s Republic of China for the invitation to visit Beijing to participate in the opening ceremony of the 24th Winter Olympic Games, President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov expressed confidence that the outcomes of this visit and the present negotiations would contribute to outlining new areas for development of bilateral relations and give an effective impetus to their further expansion.

Continuing the conversation, President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov and President Xi Jinping focused on the key areas of strategic interstate cooperation, reaffirming the mutual readiness of the parties to build it up, taking into account modern realities and prospects.

As President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov emphasized, our countries have established successful cooperation in almost all sectors of the economy. China has been one of the major trading partners of Turkmenistan for many years.

During the meeting, the oil and gas sector was specified as a priority area and the basic component of bilateral cooperation. Here, a vivid symbol of the success of mutually beneficial relations is the completed project for the construction of a gas pipeline, through which Turkmen gas is now supplied to China.

The implementation of this grandiose project of the 21st century is a concrete example of a constructive long-term partnership based on a balance of interests of all participants, including producers, transit countries and consumers, and, at the same time, a real contribution to strengthening regional and global energy security.

In this regard, the leader of the nation confirmed the readiness of Turkmenistan for a substantive discussion of the issues of increasing the natural gas supplies to China through the construction of the 4th pipeline, having focused on a number of aspects related to the implementation of this project. Speaking of this, President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov pointed out the need to determine the planned volumes of Turkmen gas supplies to China.

Based on this, the head of Turkmen state spoke about the expediency of analyzing the possibilities of developing the second phase of the Turkmen Galkynysh field, which could be the main resource base for natural gas supplies to China via the fourth pipeline (D).

One of the main issues to be addressed is the creation of a production and gas transportation infrastructure within Turkmenistan to ensure the supply of Turkmen natural gas to China through the 4th branch line. In this regard, the leader of the nation expressed confidence that the specialists of the two countries have to hold talks on the construction of gas desulfurization plants, compressor stations, and a gas pipeline from the Galkynysh field to the border of Turkmenistan with the neighboring state.

In the process of future cooperation in carrying out the fourth line construction project, it is necessary to start discussing gas prices. We expect that in joint work to deal with these issues, Turkmen and Chinese specialists will proceed from world experience in the field of pricing for commercial pipeline gas, President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov said.

Upon reaching bilateral agreements, the Turkmen party may consider the participation of a Chinese company in the development of the second phase of the Galkynysh field through direct investment from China. These investments will be repaid by the supply of Turkmen natural gas, the President of Turkmenistan supposed.

During the negotiations, the parties reached an agreement on the project for the construction of the 4th branch of the Turkmenistan-China gas pipeline, instructing the Turkmen-Chinese and Chinese-Turkmen Cooperation Committees to carry out appropriate joint work in this respect.

Further at the meeting, an interested exchange of views took place on other promising areas of bilateral partnership, where, along with the trade and economic sectors, great attention is paid to cooperation in the humanitarian field.

Turkmenistan and China are countries with rich long history and unique cultural heritage. Relations between our peoples go back to ancient times. The established fruitful contacts in such areas as education, science, culture and art have been a link through which Turkmen-Chinese relations are constantly strengthening and enriched with new content.

In the light of modern realities, the healthcare sector is a priority aspect of the partnership. In this regard, the constructive initiatives of the Turkmen leader, including those on the implementation of medical diplomacy, are gaining particular relevance. Another sign of sincere friendship from China was the delivery of 5 million doses of Chinese coronavirus vaccine to Turkmenistan.

Bilateral Turkmen-Chinese relations are organically supplemented by constructive join actions within the UN and other authoritative international organizations, where Turkmenistan and China demonstrate the closeness or coincidence of views on key issues on the regional and global agenda, which, first of all, apply to the strengthening of global peace, security and stability. This allows both countries to successfully cooperate in the world arena, providing mutual support to each other. The established trust dialogue, which meets the true interests of the two states and peoples, also contributes to the development of positive processes on the Eurasian continent and in the world as a whole.

At the end of the talks, during which strategically significant topics of bilateral cooperation were discussed, the parties reaffirmed their mutual readiness to further make the necessary efforts to bring interstate relations to a qualitatively new level.

President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov thanked President Xi Jinping for his personal contribution to the strengthening of the Turkmen-Chinese friendship and support provided to further expand all-round partnership. Expressing his conviction that new glorious pages would be written in the annals of relations between the two countries and peoples by joint efforts, the leader of the nation invited the head of the People’s Republic of China to visit Turkmenistan at a time convenient for him.

Having exchanged best wishes to each other and the peoples of both countries, President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov and President Xi Jinping expressed confidence in the further successful development of fruitful Turkmen-Chinese cooperation based on a solid foundation of friendship and goodwill.

Today, as part of the visit, the President of Turkmenistan held a working meeting with members of the delegation of our country, who reported on the performance of the instructions given by the leader of the nation on priority issues of cooperation with China and on the outcomes of bilateral meetings with their Chinese colleagues.

Summing up the reports, President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov emphasized that the Turkmen-Chinese cooperation has a wide-ranging potential, the optimal fulfillment of which meets both mutual interests and the goals of common prosperity in the regional and global dimensions.

President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov also stressed the importance of continuing the established constructive cooperation with the PRC through the UN, other reputable international and regional organizations and agencies, as well as effective use of partnership opportunities in the “Central Asia – China” format.

Summarizing the above, the leader of the nation gave specific instructions to the relevant leaders for the further development of mutually beneficial Turkmen-Chinese relations and the implementation of the bilateral agreements reached.

The participation of the head of state in the celebrations on the occasion of such a significant event as the opening of the 24th Winter Olympic Games is a striking illustration of the great importance that neutral Turkmenistan attaches to the development of international cooperation in the field of sports. One of the priorities of the foreign policy being pursued by our Homeland is sports diplomacy, the implementation of the key principles of which is designed to step up fruitful cooperation in this area, and comprehensive support for the Olympic Movement in its global humanistic, creative and peacekeeping mission.

Today, an official dinner was given on behalf of the President of the People’s Republic of China for the heads of foreign delegations who arrived in Beijing for participation in the opening ceremony of the 24th Winter Olympic Games, which was preceded by a joint photographing.

Welcoming the high guests, the PRC leader expressed his sincere gratitude to everyone for participating in the celebrations on the occasion of the Winter Olympics, emphasizing the importance of the Olympic Movement as a valuable property of mankind, a consolidating factor that has an important role to play in expanding friendship and cooperation between countries and peoples, strengthening peace and sustainable development on the whole planet.

Upon completion of the ceremonial reception, President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov proceeded from the Great Hall of the People to the Beijing International Airport to leave for the Homeland.

A few hours later, the airliner of the head of state landed at the Ashgabat International Airport.

In order to comply with sanitary standards, upon arrival from China, members of the delegation of Turkmenistan will undergo mandatory quarantine for a period of 3 days.