Prospects for the development of Turkmen-Chinese cooperation in the gas industry, transport and other areas were discussed by President of Turkmenistan Serdar Berdimuhamedov and President of the People's Republic of China Xi Jinping.  The meeting took place on Thursday in Samarkand, where the leaders of friendly states arrived to participate in the SCO Summit, the State News Agency of Turkmenistan reports.

 Noting that the fuel and energy complex has been and remains the most important vector of the Turkmen-Chinese partnership, the head of China fully supported the proposals of the Turkmen side to further increase cooperation in this area and build the fourth line of the Turkmenistan-China gas pipeline.

 During the meeting, the parties also expressed their readiness to further strengthen mutually beneficial cooperation both on a bilateral and multilateral basis, including within the framework of the «Central Asia + China» format.

 In order to further develop political relations, the President of Turkmenistan proposed to instruct the Ministries of Foreign Affairs of the two countries to prepare a Roadmap, which would include proposals to intensify contacts at the highest state level and develop intergovernmental and inter-parliamentary relations.  In this regard, taking into account the huge potential for cooperation, it was proposed to prepare and hold the next meeting of the Turkmen-Chinese Joint Committee.

 The readiness of the Turkmen side was also expressed to consider the issue of signing a bilateral document on pairing the One Belt One Road strategy with the concept of Revival of the Great Silk Road.

 Emphasizing that one of the key vectors of economic cooperation is the gas sector, Serdar Berdimuhamedov suggested holding a regular meeting of the established Joint Working Group on Gas Cooperation in order to intensify the negotiation process on the construction of the fourth line of the Turkmenistan-China gas pipeline.

 Among the most important areas of cooperation, the sphere of transport and logistics was also highlighted.  In this regard, the new route of rail transportation China-Kazakhstan-Turkmenistan-Iran is seen as promising.  As noted, in order to realize the huge potential of this corridor, it is advisable to conclude a quadripartite agreement on container transportation.

 Along with this, the parties stressed the importance of further expanding and strengthening ties in education, science, culture, healthcare and other socially significant areas.

 Taking the opportunity, Serdar Berdimuhamedov invited the President of the People's Republic of China to pay an official visit to Turkmenistan at a convenient time.  Accepting this invitation with deep gratitude, Xi Jinping thanked the head of Turkmenistan for the constructive conversation and the proposals made on intensifying cooperation.

 In turn, the head of China invited the President of Turkmenistan Serdar Berdimuhamedov and the Hero-Arkadag Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov to visit China at any time.