Chinese defense minister meets Turkmen counterpart

BEIJING, Jan. 6 (Xinhua) -- Chinese State Councilor and Defense Minister Wei Fenghe on Friday met with Turkmen Defense Minister Begench Gundogdyev in Beijing.

Wei said that Chinese President Xi Jinping and Turkmen President Serdar Berdimuhamedov held talks on Friday and jointly announced the establishment of a comprehensive strategic partnership between China and Turkmenistan, marking a new era of China-Turkmenistan relations.

China is ready to work with Turkmenistan to continue enhancing strategic communications between the two militaries, deepen and expand pragmatic cooperation, and jointly build an even closer China-Turkmenistan community with a shared future, Wei said.

For his part, Gundogdyev said Turkmenistan is willing to strengthen friendly exchanges and deepen cooperation in defense and security with China, and safeguard the two countries' common interests and regional peace and development.