Chinese President Xi Jinping welcomed and held talks with the visiting Turkmen President Serdar Berdimuhamedov on Friday. They declared the elevation of China-Turkmenistan diplomatic relations to a comprehensive strategic partnership.

Turkmenistan is one of the biggest suppliers of gas to China, ensuring energy security for China. Chinese first international gas pipeline runs from Turkmenistan to Uzbekistan and then passes through Uzbekistan to Kazakhstan. It enters Northwest China at the Xinjiang region.

The leaders of two countries formally announced the elevation of the bilateral relationship to a comprehensive strategic partnership in a joint statement that read as:

“With similar visions and objectives as well as intertwined interests, the two countries need to jointly pursue the journey toward development and rejuvenation, leverage the complementarity of their respective strengths, and fully tap the potential for cooperation to realize common development”

Xi and Berdimuhamedov attended the signing of cooperation documents in multiple areas, including Belt and Road project, health, green development, digital economy, sports, press, culture and energy.