China's State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi will visit Turkmenistan next week, the Chinese state media organization CGTN reported on Friday citing Wang Wenbin, the spokesperson of the country’s Foreign Ministry.
Wang Yi will visit Turkmenistan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan from July 12 to July 16, according to Wang Wenbin.
During a meeting with Turkmen Foreign Minister Rashid Meredov and Turkmen Vice-Premier Serdar Berdimuhamedow in Xi'an in May this year, Wang Yi said China is willing to discuss comprehensive cooperation in the field of natural gas with Turkmenistan.
Turkmenistan exports natural gas to China via Central Asia-China Gas Pipeline, comprising three parallel lines A, B, and C. The construction of an additional line D is underway. Last year, China imported over 39 billion cubic meters of natural gas through the pipeline.
China has purchased over 300 billion cubic meters of natural gas from Turkmenistan since the launch of the pipeline in 2009 and is presently the major importer of Turkmen natural gas.