Chinese President Hu Jintao's special envoy Chen Zhili makes a speech at a reception in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, Jan. 13, 2012. Chen Zhili held the reception to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Turkmenistan Friday. (Xinhua/Lu Jingli)
ASHGABAT, Jan. 13 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Hu Jintao's special envoy Chen Zhili held talks with Turkmen parliament chairperson Akdzha Nurberdyeva here Friday to discuss bilateral friendly relations.
During their talks, Chen, also vice chairwoman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC) of China, said that China and Turkmenistan have conducted satisfactory cooperation in various areas since they established diplomatic ties in 1992.
Appreciating Turkmenistan's unwavering support for China's position on major issues concerning China's Taiwan, Tibet and Xinjiang, Chen said that China will, as always, respect Turkmen people's choice on their own development path according to their national conditions.
China attaches great importance to its ties with Turkmenistan and stands ready to take advantage of the 20th anniversary of their relations to adequately implement the consensus reached by leaders of the two nations, deepen practical cooperation in various areas, promote inter-parliamentary exchanges so as to advance the steady and sustained growth of their friendly cooperative relations, Chen said.
Nurberdyeva, for her part, said that the Turkmenistan-China friendship, which has been witnessed by the world renowned Silk Road, dates back to ancient times.
Turkmenistan greatly values its good-neighborly relations with China and hopes to conduct long-term friendly cooperation with China, she said.
Inter-parliamentary cooperation is an important part of bilateral relations, and the Turkmen parliament hopes to continue to strengthen cooperation with the NPC so as to promote the all-round development of bilateral relations, she said.
Also on Friday, they attended a reception at the Chinese embassy marking the 20th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Turkmenistan and made speeches.
Turkmen parliament chairperson Akdzha Nurberdyeva delivers a speech at a reception in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, Jan. 13, 2012. Chinese President Hu Jintao's special envoy Chen Zhili held the reception to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Turkmenistan Friday. (Xinhua/Lu Jingli)