ASHGABAT, Dec. 12 (Xinhua) -- China will continue to support Turkmenistan's status of permanent neutrality and will keep close contact with the Turkmen side at high levels to enrich the strategic partnership between the two countries, said visiting Chinese Vice President Li Yuanchao here Friday.
Li is visiting the Central Asian nation on invitation to attend celebrations designed to mark the 20th anniversary of Turkmenistan's adopting the status of permanent neutrality.
While meeting with Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov, Li, on behalf of Chinese President Xi Jinping, extended greetings to the Turkmen head of state and congratulated him on the national celebrations.
As a friendly neighbor and strategic partner of Turkmenistan, China will continue to steadfastly support its status of permanent neutrality, Li said during the meeting.
During Berdimuhamedov's visit to China last month, a series of new consensus were reached between the two sides, which has shown the direction to the further development of bilateral ties, according to Li.
China stands ready to consolidate political trust with Turkmenistan, beef up strategic coordination, and will take the opportunity of jointly building the Silk Road Economic Belt to deepen cooperation in fields such as energy, culture, security, agriculture, communication and the textile industry, Li added.
Berdimuhamedov, for his part, thanked China for sending a high-level delegation to attend the celebrations and asked Li to extend his good wishes to Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Turkmenistan and China have a long history of friendship and enjoy broad prospect of future cooperation, said the Turkmen president, adding that the Turkmen side would like to cooperate with China in global affairs and to further push forward bilateral relations.