In the conference room of China Petroleum Tower, Dai Houliang, Chairman of China Petroleum Group, and Guwanqi Agazanov, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Oil and Gas of Turkmenistan, held hands tightly. This is an important stop on the visit of Turkmenistan's leaders to China, and the dialogue in the energy sector between the two countries is injecting new era connotations into the Millennium Silk Road. From the right bank of the Amu Darya River to the Central Asian natural gas pipeline, China Turkey energy cooperation has gone through the test of time and is now moving towards broader and deeper areas.

Deepening consensus through high-level talks

On March 16, 2026, Dai Houliang, Chairman of China National Petroleum Corporation, met with Guwanqi Agazanov, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Oil and Gas of Turkmenistan, in Beijing to exchange in-depth views on strengthening cooperation in the natural gas field. Agazanov pointed out that the natural gas cooperation between Turkey and China has strategic significance and has received high attention from the top leaders of the two countries. The cooperation model projects jointly built by both sides, such as the right bank of the Amu Darya River and the Central Asian natural gas pipeline, have played an important role in the stable development of Turkey's economy and society.

The leader leads the blueprint

On March 18, 2026, the President of the People's Republic of China met with Berdymukhamedov, the national leader and chairman of the People's Council of Turkmenistan, who was on a friendly visit to China in Beijing. The President stressed that the two sides should accelerate the docking of the the Belt and Road Initiative and the Silk Road revitalization strategy, expand the scale of cooperation in the natural gas field, improve the level of trade and investment, and expand cooperation in non resource fields such as connectivity, agriculture, artificial intelligence, the digital economy, and clean energy. Keywords: the Belt and Road news network, natural gas infrastructure

Deepening and solidifying energy cooperation

Dai Houliang stated that under the strategic guidance of the two heads of state, the foundation of energy cooperation between China and Turkey is solid and the prospects are broad. China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) leverages the complementary advantages of resources and markets on both sides to promote the continuous deepening and solidification of natural gas cooperation between China and Turkey, and actively responds to the uncertainty of the external environment with the certainty of its own cooperation. Berdymukhamedov stated that Turkey is willing to strengthen its development strategy docking with China, expand practical cooperation in energy, trade, connectivity and other fields, and seek common development and prosperity.Editor/Gao Xue