Jiang's Turkmenistan Visit to Deepen Bilateral RelationsTurkmenistan's ambassador to China Amangeldy Rakhmanov Monday praised the close friendship between his country and China, and said Chinese President Jiang Zemin's upcoming visit to Turkmenistan will help strengthen bilateral ties in the 21st century.President Jiang's three-day visit to Turkmenistan, which will start on July 5, will be a major event in bilateral relations, and heads of state of the two countries are expected to discuss ways to boost their relations, Rakhmanov said in an interview. "The visit will provide fresh opportunities for promoting cooperation in the realm of politics, economics, trade, energy, telecommunication and transportation," he said. During the trip, the two sides will mainly discuss cooperation in infrastructure, production and supply of oil and natural gas equipment and sericulture, he said,adding that the two countries are assessing the best route for transporting natural gas from Turkmenistan to China. Turkmenistan President Saparmurad Niyazov visited China in 1992 and 1998. And senior Chinese leaders Li Peng and Hu Jintao have traveled to Turkmenistan in recent years. "The two countries do not and will not have any political problems," he said, emphasizing that the continual meetings between leaders of the two countries have been very constructive and have promoted bilateral relations. He noted that increased exchanges in various fields have occurred between the two sides, and said that this will enable them to work together to rejuvenate the ancient Silk Road, to allow their traditional friendship to grow deeper, and to maintain regional peace, stability and development. Rakhmanov said that the two countries have also signed dozens of inter-governmental agreements since the establishment of diplomatic relations eight years ago, thus laying a foundation for deepening cooperative relations. He said Turkmenistan is a neighbor of western China, therefore the implementation of China's strategy to develop its west will expand bilateral cooperation in oil, natural gas, anti-desertization, solar energy and textile. In addition, Turkmenistan, which holds an important geographical position along the Eurasia Continental Bridge, is willing to expand transportation cooperation with China, so as to promote regional economic and trade exchanges. In regard to next month's Five-Nation Summit in Dushanbe, the capital city of Tajikistan, the ambassador said that the five participating countries -- China, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Kazakhstan and Tajikistan -- share a common interest in promoting border stability and safeguarding regional peace. The meeting, originally designed for resolving border issues, has ultimately helped promote cooperation in political, economic and ecological areas, he said. |
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