National flags of China and Turkmenistan Photo: VCG

At the invitation of President Xi Jinping, National Leader of the Turkmen People and Chairman of the Halk Maslahaty of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov will pay a goodwill visit to China from March 17 to 19, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson announced Monday.

Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov was elected president of Turkmenistan in February 2007 and was re-elected for two additional terms in 2012 and 2017, according to Xinhua News Agency. 

In 2013, China and Turkmenistan established strategic partnership, with major progress made in all areas of cooperation. Both sides signed the Joint Declaration on Establishing the Strategic Partnership Between the People's Republic of China and Turkmenistan, and witnessed the signing of 12 documents on diplomacy, economy, energy, finance, education, culture and sub-national cooperation by the government departments and businesses of the two sides, according to the Chinese Foreign Ministry. 

On January 6, 2023, the two countries announced the elevation of China-Turkmenistan relations to a comprehensive strategic partnership.

From the perspectives of historical ties, practical cooperation, energy, and geopolitics, Turkmenistan is a partner that deserves high regard. As a Central Asian country, a major energy producer, and a nation with a unique model of neutral diplomacy, these factors together determine its irreplaceable role in China-Turkmenistan relations and regional cooperation. They also reflect the diversity and strategic layout of China's foreign cooperation, said Zhu Yongbiao, a Middle East affairs expert with Lanzhou University.

The special nature of the visit is primarily reflected in the long-standing friendly relations between China and Turkmenistan, Zhu said. In particular, Berdimuhamedov 

consistently supported China-Turkmenistan friendship during his tenure, while also upholding the policy of permanent neutrality and friendly foreign relations. 

Turkmenistan is internationally recognized as a permanently neutral state, while China advocates multilateralism on the international stage, Zhu noted. Turkmenistan shares the same or similar views with China on a wide range of international and regional issues, and will work with China to increase mutual support and enhance coordination. 

Turkmenistan is one of the major trading partners of China in Central Asia and its largest supplier of pipeline natural gas, according to public information.  

From the inauguration of the first phase of this pipeline in December 2009 to May 20, 2020, China had imported nearly 270 billion cubic meters of natural gas from Turkmenistan, according to the Belt and Road Portal. 

According to the expert, the visit may focus on several key topics such as further consolidating bilateral relation, deepening energy cooperation - not only in traditional energy sources like natural gas but also in new energy, as well as collaboration across the entire industrial chain, both upstream and downstream - an aspect that could be particularly important. 

Additionally, both sides may explore aligning the Belt and Road Initiative with Turkmenistan's development strategy and addressing shared concerns regarding the current situation in the Middle East.