Jiang Arrives in Turkmenistan for State Visit

Jiang Arrives in Turkmenistan for State Visit

President Jiang Zemin arrived Wednesday evening for a state visit at the invitation of Turkmenistan President Saparmurad Niyazov.

Niyazov hosted a red-carpet ceremony to welcome Jiang, the first Chinese head of state to visit this central Asian country. Jiang, accompanied by Niyazov, inspected the guards of honor at the airport.

In a written speech delivered at the airport, Jiang said that the friendship between the two countries can be traced far back in history. Through the ancient Silk Road, Chinese ancestors brought horses back to China while Turkmenistan business people carried tea, silk and porcelain back to their country.

During his stay here, Jiang will exchange views with Niyazov on furthering the bilateral ties.

Jiang will hold formal talks with Niyazov Thursday morning and the two countries will sign a series of documents on bilateral cooperation, according to sources with the Chinese Foreign Ministry.

Jiang's entourage who arrived on board the same special plane included Vice Premier Qian Qichen, Minister in charge of the State Development and Planning Commission Zeng Peiyan, Minister of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation Shi Guangsheng, and other senior officials.

Turkmenistan is the last leg of Jiang's two-nation trip to central Asia. Jiang arrived here after attending the fifth " Shanghai Five" summit, an annual meeting of top leaders from China, Russian, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan in the Tajikistan capital of Dushanbe.