On October 19, 2023, as part of a working visit to Beijing, the National Leader of the Turkmen people, Chairman of the Halk Maslahaty of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov met with the Chairman of the People's Republic of China Xi Jinping.
Thanking Arkadag for his participation in the Third High-level Forum “One Belt, One Road”, President Xi Jinping noted the progressive dynamics of interstate cooperation, based on historically established ties of friendship and having solid multifaceted potential.
As noted, a new effective step towards the development of bilateral relations was the state visit of President Serdar Berdimuhamedov to the PRC in January of this year. The leader of the People's Republic of China conveyed warm greetings and best wishes to the head of Turkmenistan.
President Xi Jinping emphasized that China attaches great importance to cooperation with Turkmenistan and highly values and supports its creative international initiatives.
Expressing gratitude to Chairman Xi Jinping for the invitation to visit the PRC, Chairman Halk Maslahaty noted that the traditions of Turkmen-Chinese friendship can be traced for more than two thousand years, rooted in the distant past. The Great Silk Road closely connected both countries and their peoples.
Focusing on the topic of ensuring sustainable development in the region, the National Leader of the Turkmen people emphasized the importance of efforts to combine Turkmenistan’s strategy “Revival of the Great Silk Road” with China’s “One Belt, One Road” initiative. Over the years, this initiative has contributed to strengthening trade and cultural ties in the Eurasian space.
Thus, the peoples of Turkmenistan and the PRC have centuries-old friendly relations, vast experience of interaction and good neighborliness.
Stressing that centuries-old bonds of friendship unite our countries and peoples, Arkadag thanked Chairman Xi Jinping for the opportunity to meet, as well as for the cordiality and hospitality provided.
As Chairman Halk Maslahaty noted, meetings with the head of the PRC are always significant events in relations between Turkmenistan and China. They provide an opportunity to exchange views on the state of interstate relations, identify the most important topics that require special attention, and give bilateral contacts the necessary impetus.
In this context, the high level of mutual trust, mutual understanding and openness achieved in recent years under the leadership of Chinese President Xi Jinping in Turkmen-Chinese relations was stated. The strategic partnership between our countries is characterized by a progressive, steady and targeted nature across the entire spectrum of areas. By developing and expanding it, we invariably rely on the historical ties of friendship and good neighborliness of the Turkmen and Chinese peoples, their deep mutual sympathy and respect for each other, the closeness of the positions of the two states on key issues of modern international politics, a strong legal basis for cooperation, powerful mutual economic potential, noted the Chairman of the Halk Maslahaty.
This nature of interaction, meeting the fundamental interests of Turkmenistan and China, makes a noticeable constructive contribution to the preservation and strengthening of international stability and security, contributes to the solution of a number of pressing regional issues, and is an important factor in accelerating and expanding trade and economic processes on the Asian continent.
At the same time, the National Leader of the Turkmen people confirmed that Turkmenistan is firmly committed to further strengthening fraternal, friendly ties with China and is ready to continue joint work in the political, economic, cultural and humanitarian spheres.
Taking this opportunity, Arkadag conveyed cordial greetings from President of Turkmenistan Serdar Berdimuhamedov to Chairman Xi Jinping, and also addressed wishes for peace, prosperity and prosperity to the Chinese people.
Continuing the meeting, the National Leader of the Turkmen people and the head of the People's Republic of China discussed the key vectors of Turkmen-Chinese interaction, built with a long-term perspective and developing in an ascending line, both on a bilateral and multilateral basis, including in the “Central Asia-China” format.
In the context of realizing potential in the trade and economic sphere, the role of the Turkmen-Chinese Intergovernmental Committee was noted.
The transport and logistics sector was also identified as a priority area of cooperation. In this regard, Chairman Xi Jinping emphasized the relevance of the initiatives put forward by Turkmenistan aimed at building up effective regional and international partnership in this strategic area. At the same time, the importance of interaction was noted in the context of the implementation of the “Revival of the Great Silk Road” and “One Belt, One Road” strategies, their coupling and complementarity.
An integral component of Turkmen-Chinese relations is also the cultural and humanitarian area, where there is many years of positive experience of joint work.
Noting that he always remembers his visit to Turkmenistan with warmth, the head of the PRC invited Arkadag to visit China again.
***
At the end of the negotiations, bilateral documents were signed, including: an Agreement between the Government of Turkmenistan and the Government of the People's Republic of China on technical and economic cooperation and a Memorandum of Understanding between the State Customs Service of Turkmenistan and the General Customs Administration of the People's Republic of China on cooperation in strengthening the capacity of the Economic Commissioners Program operators.
***
As part of the working visit of the Chairman of the Halk Maslahaty Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov to the PRC, meetings were held between members of the official delegation of Turkmenistan and the heads of ministries and departments of the PRC, including the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the fuel and energy sector, transport and communications, education, science, health and sports.
A wide range of issues of political and diplomatic interaction, as well as cooperation in the trade and economic sphere, were discussed at the meetings.
The advisability of maintaining an active dialogue and practical implementation of joint initiatives in the field of trade, transport and communication systems, medicine and healthcare, scientific and technological innovation, digital economy, etc. was also noted.
