China is willing to work with Turkmenistan to strengthen the alignment between the Belt and Road Initiative and Turkmenistan’s development strategy to revive the Great Silk Road, explore new measures to deepen cooperation in connectivity and agriculture, and expand collaboration in culture, tourism and education, China’s top legislator Zhao Leji said on Thursday.
Zhao, chairman of China’s National People’s Congress (NPC) Standing Committee, made the remarks while holding talks with Dunyagozel Gulmanova, chairperson of the National Assembly (Mejlis) of Turkmenistan, in Beijing.
Zhao said that in January 2023, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Turkmen President Serdar Berdimuhamedov jointly announced the elevation of bilateral relations to a comprehensive strategic partnership.
In October of the same year, President Xi held friendly exchanges with Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov, chairman of the People’s Council of Turkmenistan, who visited China to attend the third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation, drawing a new blueprint for cooperation in various fields between the two countries, Zhao added.
He also said that China is willing to work with Turkmenistan to implement the important consensus reached by the leaders of both countries, strengthen cooperation in various sectors, and continuously enrich the connotation of bilateral comprehensive strategic partnership.
China highly appreciates Turkmenistan’s firm support for China’s position on the Taiwan question and issues related to Xinjiang and human rights, Zhao said, adding that China will, as always, firmly support Turkmenistan in safeguarding its national independence, sovereignty and security, and support Turkmenistan in pursuing a permanent neutrality policy and following a development path that suits its national conditions.
He called on both sides to jointly promote the implementation of the three major global initiatives proposed by President Xi, safeguard the multilateral trading system with the World Trade Organization at its core, and practice true multilateralism.
He further said that the legislative bodies of China and Turkmenistan have always maintained friendly exchanges, and that the NPC of China is willing to join hands with the National Assembly of Turkmenistan to strengthen friendly exchanges at multiple levels among legislative bodies, deepen the exchange of experience in legislation, supervision and governance, and create a favorable legal environment for practical cooperation between the two countries.
Gulmanova said that under the strategic guidance of the leaders of both countries, the bilateral comprehensive strategic partnership has achieved vigorous development in various fields, including politics, economy, diplomacy and culture.
The National Assembly of Turkmenistan is willing to deepen friendly exchanges with the NPC of China and enhance communication among special committees, youth and women parliamentarians, and representatives, Gulmanova added.
