Turkmen President Serdar Berdimuhamedov meets with the visiting Chinese State Councilor and Defense Minister Wei Fenghe left on April 26, 2022 in Ashgabat, capital of Turkmenistan. LI XIAOWEI ASHGABAT Turkmen President Serdar Berdimuhamedov and visiting Chinese State Councilor and Minister of National Defense Wei Fenghe expressed a common willingness to promote bilateral cooperation.
Berdimuhamedov said at a meeting with Wei in Ashgabat that Turkmenistan attaches great importance to its relations with China, and the two countries have had high-level cooperation in the fields of politics, diplomacy, trade, culture, humanitarian and people-to-people exchanges, and established a strategic partnership.
China is one of Turkmenistan's largest trading partners, according to the president, who said there are more than 1,400 Turkmen students studying in China, and students can major in the Chinese language in many Turkmen universities.
Berdimuhamedov expressed the hope that the two militaries will strengthen practical cooperation in equipment technology, personnel training and other fields, and push for new development in bilateral relations.
Under the strategic direction of the two top leaders of state, Wei said that China-Turkmenistan relations have achieved leap-forward development and are in their best period in history.
On the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the establishment of bilateral diplomatic ties, China stands ready to strengthen solidarity with Turkmenistan and to build an even closer community with a shared future for the two countries, he said.
China supports Turkmenistan's permanent neutral status, firmly supports its pursuit of a development path suited to its national conditions, and strongly opposes external interference in Turkmenistan's internal affairs, Wei stressed.
In recent years, military-to- military relations between the two countries have been developing steadily and their pragmatic cooperation has been deepening day by day, he noted.
The Chinese military is willing to expand areas of cooperation with Turkmenistan, improve the effectiveness of cooperation, and to elevate military-to- military relations to a higher level, Wei said.
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On the same day, Turkmen Defense Minister Begench Gundogdyev held a welcome ceremony for Wei and had formal talks with him.
The two officials agreed that both militaries will continue strategic communication, conduct personnel training, and strengthen anti-terrorist and equipment technology cooperation, as well as to discuss the international and regional security situations.