Vice Prime Minister, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan Rashid Meredov held a meeting with Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China Le Yucheng, who arrived in Ashgabat on a working visit.

The parties discussed a wide range of issues related to the implementation of the agreements achieved during the high-level talks. Meeting participants exchanged views on key areas of bilateral cooperation in the context of a telephone conversation between President of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov and President of the People's Republic of China Xi Jinping, which took place on May 6 this year.

Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China Le Yucheng reaffirmed the commitment of China to the development of dialogue with Turkmenistan in the entire spectrum of areas.

In turn, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan noted that our state attached great importance to the expansion of bilateral ties, which are traditionally based on the principles of equality, mutual respect and mutual observance of interests.

In this context, the parties expressed satisfaction with the positive dynamics of the Turkmen-Chinese relations in the political, diplomatic, trade, economic, energy, transport and communication spheres among other areas, taking into account the accumulated tremendous experience of successful cooperation and the existing colossal potential.

The oil and gas sector was specified as a priority area of the bilateral economic partnership, where a number of large joint projects have already been implemented. First of all, this is the successfully operated Turkmenistan-China gas pipeline.

Large Chinese companies actively work in various fields in Turkmenistan in cooperation with Turkmen specialists. Chinese business is widely represented on the commodity exchange of our country. Cotton, iodine, bromine, oil products and other Turkmen goods are exported to China.

As noted, the Committee for Cooperation between Turkmenistan and the PRC, which works in four main areas: trade, energy, security and culture, was specified as an effective instrument of interstate interaction.

The sides emphasized the similarity of their positions on promoting international mechanisms aimed at maintaining peace, stability and security at the regional and global levels.

Meeting participants discussed a number of issues related to the upcoming working trip of the Turkmen delegation to China. In this context, special attention was paid to the preparation of the Meeting of Ministers of Foreign Affairs "Central Asia - China", scheduled for May 12 , 2021 in the city of Xi'an (PRC), as well as bilateral inter-ministerial political consultations.

Particular attention was paid to the fight against the coronavirus pandemic. The parties expressed their intention to continue close cooperation in this direction. At the end of the meeting, the participants confirmed their interest in strengthening multifaceted cooperation.