OREANDA-NEWS. May 04, 2010. On the last day of the state visit of President of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov to the People’s Republic of China the Turkmen-Chinese top-level took place in Shanghai marking a new critical step to further intensify the traditional dialogue of friendship and mutually advantageous cooperation between the two countries and peoples.

In the morning the President’s cortege headed for the Shanghai International Convention Centre where the official ceremony of meeting the distinguished guest took place.

President of the People’s Republic of China Hu Jintao greeted heartily the Turkmen leader Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov in the Mandarin Hall. The leader of Turkmenistan and the head of the PRC entered the Hall introduced the members of the government delegations of Turkmenistan and China.

Upon concluding the official ceremony the Chinese leader invited Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov to hold the talks in the Shanghai Hall. The official delegations took part in the talks.

Greeting heartily the honorary guest, PRC President Hu Jintao thanked the Turkmen leader for accepting the invitation to pay a state visit to China and attend the Expo-2010 opening ceremony. Taking an opportunity Hu Jintao expressed profound gratitude to President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov for the heartfelt welcome extended to the Chinese official delegation during the visit to Turkmenistan last December when the ceremony of putting the Turkmenistan-China gas pipeline into operation had taken place. The Chinese leader expressed gratitude to the Turkmen leader for his condolences over the devastating earthquake which had caused numerous human casualties and damage in Qinghai Province in the west of China.

Emphasizing that China attached paramount significance to traditionally friendly, constructive relationships with Turkmenistan and stood ready to discuss all aspects of further bilateral cooperation , the leader of the People’s Republic of China gave the floor to the honorary Turkmen guest.

Thanking President Hu Jintao for inviting to visit China, extending hospitality and heartfelt welcome to the Turkmen delegation in China, creating the enabling environment for effective joint work, Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov emphasized that this visit was viewed in Turkmenistan as a landmark in the history of relationships between the two countries that actively developed cooperation in the whole spectrum of fields.

The Turkmen leader said that a critical factor in further enhancing the intergovernmental dialogue was a high level of mutual understanding and assistance that was always inherent in Turkmenistan and China. The views of the two countries on many important aspects of international relationships, first of all in the political sphere, were close or similar. In this regard President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov underscored the importance of close cooperation to establish reliable security system in Central Asia on a basis of a multilateral balance of interests and commitment to the political and diplomatic instruments to address emerging problems.

“Both Turkmenistan and China take the approaches to these issues as a responsible members of the world community making a profound practical contribution to building the regional mechanisms for collaboration and promoting the positive tendencies that are observed in the region,” the leader of the Turkmen state said.

Emphasizing with satisfaction the dynamic development of trade and economic contacts, President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov said that bilateral trade had risen 40 times as compared to 2000 and made up about USD1.5 billion in 2008. Today, 37 enterprises with the Chinese capital share operated in Turkmenistan and about 60 joint investment projects totally amounted to over USD 4 billion and about 2.5 billion of Chinese Yuan had been registered. The Chinese companies operate in the oil and gas, textile, chemical and food industries, transport, agricultural and telecommunications sectors. The Turkmen leader noted that Chinese partners hit their strides in all joint undertakings.

The Turkmen leader said that a priority field of bilateral cooperation was traditionally the fuel and energy sector that was proved by the successful implemented of the project of building Turkmenistan-China transnational gas pipeline that had been launched last December.

“The gas pipeline built by joint efforts of our nations is a symbol of indissoluble friendship and cooperation between Turkmenistan and China, between two peoples,” President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov said. “For our countries it opens up the vast opportunities for long-term, strategic partnership in the energy sector.”

Elaborating on this statement, the leader of Turkmenistan emphasized that the new energy route played a critical role in intensifying economic processes in Central Asia and the continent in whole, ensuring stable and reliable transit of energy to world markets.

The President of Turkmenistan noted that the measures taken to diversify Turkmen economy, expand a share of export-oriented production, adopt advanced technologies and develop new modern industries opened up the vast opportunities for Turkmen-Chinese cooperation. In particular, these included development of tourism infrastructure on the Caspian seashore, first of all.

Touching upon the Expo-2010 that included the exposition of Turkmenistan the Turkmen leader congratulated the PRC President on opening the Shanghai World Expo and expressed belief that direct contacts between Turkmen and Chinese state-run and private enterprises in the framework of this forum would give a good impetus to establish business cooperation and look for new opportunities to develop partnership.

Focusing on the priority significance of the humanitarian sphere the Leader of the Turkmen state called for intensifying research in the historical and cultural heritage of the two peoples. President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov said that Turkmenistan and China as the countries with the age-old and rich traditions that could be traced back to the Great Silk Road had vast opportunities for joint work in this field. In this regard the Turkmen leader called for further expanding contacts in the sphere of culture and art.

“Also, we highly evaluate the readiness of Chinese partners to assist in training highly qualified specialists and intend to send Turkmen young people to study at the higher educational institutions in the People’s Republic of China in the future,” the President of Turkmenistan said.

In conclusion the Turkmen leader emphasized that Turkmenistan viewed China not only as a world power and the largest economic and industrial centre but also a reliable and true friend.

“Today we have long-term, strategic relationships that have been tested by time, proved their effectiveness and serve as an essential factor for stability and progress on the Eurasian continent. This is a cornerstone of our indissoluble friendship as well as advancement towards new accomplishments in the name of happiness, prosperity and progress of the peoples of Turkmenistan and the People’s Republic of China,” the Turkmen leader said.

Sharing the Turkmen leader’s estimation of Turkmen-Chinese relations, the PRC President said that cooperation between the two countries had been filled with a new content and quality in the past three years. In this regard the Chinese leader underscored the importance of visits at the top, intergovernmental and other levels that contributed to facilitating the constructive intergovernmental dialogue.

Focusing on success of bilateral trade and economic partnership, collaboration in the fuel and energy sector and the humanitarian sphere, President Hu Jintao said that intergovernmental cooperation had been strengthened even further through enhancing rapidly fruitful contacts in these fields.

Touching upon the key factors of bilateral relationships that were enhanced with every passing year, President Hu Jintao mentioned the mutual support that the two countries provided to each other on the global arena and the mutual understanding on urgent problems of the modern world. President Hu Jintao stated that China would continue to support Turkmenistan that put forward important constructive initiatives in all its good undertakings. In this context the Chinese leader emphasized effective development of the Turkmen-Chinese dialogue in both bilateral and multilateral formats particularly in the framework of the authoritative international organisations including the United Nations that met the interests of the two countries and peoples.

President Hu Jintao emphasized that China aimed to comprehensively expand and intensify mutually advantageous cooperation with Turkmenistan that it viewed as a true friend and dependable partner. Calling for further intensifying contacts at the top and other levels, the Chinese leader focused on the importance of the effective implementation of bilateral agreements.

Putting emphasis on partnership in the fuel and energy sector as a key priority of collaboration President Hu Jintao agreed with the opinion of President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov that this collaboration must be built on a long-term basis. The Chinese leader underscored the need to develop fruitful contacts in such sectors as transport, telecommunications, infrastructure construction emphasizing that China supported fully Turkmenistan’s approach and proposals for versatile cooperation.

The President of the People’s Republic of China said that the decision that evolved from friendly intergovernmental relations to provide an interest-free loan of 70 million Yuan to Turkmenistan.

The PRC President called for enhancing cooperation in such an important field as achievement of security and stability in the region including combating terrorism and transnational crime.

Touching upon the aspects of humanitarian cooperation, the PRC President put emphasis on the importance of strengthening contacts in the spheres of education, science and technology, culture, sport and tourism. In this regard President Hu Jintao informed of China’s readiness to increase a quotas for the admittance of Turkmen students to the higher educational institutions and send more Chinese teachers to Turkmenistan. China stood ready to offer Turkmen partners its profound expertise in tourism industry that was rapidly developed in Turkmenistan.Touching upon the World Expo-2010 and noting that the world exhibition in Shanghai was a big dream for China, President Hu Jintao expressed gratitude to Turkmenistan for providing assistance in organizing the forum. The Chinese leader said that the opening of the Turkmenistan Pavilion at the universal forum would allow meeting a growing global interest in the Turkmen state.

Focusing on the high effectiveness and success of intergovernmental cooperation, the President of the People’s Republic of China said that the vast opportunities to further intensify traditionally friendly cooperation in mutual interests existed.

Expressing gratitude to the People’s Republic of China for the interest-free loan that was another sign of China’s true friendship and goodwill, President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov said that this loan would be invested in the social sphere. The Turkmen leader said that our country had special relations with China that was illustrated by the fact that China was the only country that Turkmenistan had allowed to develop onshore hydrocarbon deposits on its territory.

Touching upon the important aspects of Turkmen-Chinese partnership for achievement of security in the region, President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov said that this was a complex problem which could be addressed through actively using diplomatic instruments. In this regard the Turkmen leader put emphasis on the resources and potential of the UN Regional Center for Preventive Diplomacy in Central Asia with the headquarters in Ashgabat.

Today, cooperation between Turkmenistan and the People’s Republic of China was developed in the wide spectrum of fields including rail transport, communications and high technology sectors. The prospects for this collaboration were discussed during the meetings of the President of Turkmenistan with the top managers of the Chinese leading companies in Shanghai.

The Turkmen leader said that partnership in tourism and recreation industries was deemed to be very promising due to the opportunities opened up by the project of the Avaza national tourism zone – a world-class seaside resort on the Caspian seashore.

In this context President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov called for further intensifying fruitful Turkmen-Chinese cooperation in all fields.

Upon concluding the bilateral talks, an official dinner was given in honour of the distinguished Turkmen guests on behalf of the President of the People’s Republic of China.

From the Shanghai International Convention Center President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov headed for the Pudong International Airport

In the evening the President’s plane landed in the International Airport in Ashgabat where the high-ranking officials of the Mejlis and the cabinet ministers cordially greeted the Turkmen leader and congratulated him heartily on the success of the state visit to the People’s Republic of China.