China and Turkmenistan to cooperate on energy projects

Intend to be long-term, stable and reliable energy partners.

Chinese President Xi Jinping and Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov have signed a joint declaration to raise the ties to a new level of strategic partnership.

In the declaration, the two countries agreed to take measures to guarantee a safe operation of the already-completed Line A and Line B on the Turkmenistan-China pipeline, the world's longest natural gas pipeline. They also said they would work together to complete the construction of Line C and Line D.

It also said they would set up a mechanism to ensure security of the natural gas projects. The annual gas supply from Turkmenistan to China will reach 65 billion cubic meters by 2020.

The Chinese and Turkmen presidents jointly announced the completion of the first-phase construction of the Galkynysh gas field located in the south of Turkmenistan.

The Galkynysh, with proven reserves of between four and six trillion cubic meters of natural gas, is the world's second largest gas field.

"That means from today on, no matter how the regional and global situation changes, developing the Turkmen-Sino relationship will always be the priority of both nations," Berdymukhamedov said.