The latest trade data released by the General Administration of Customs of China shows that the economic and trade exchanges between Turkmenistan and China continue to maintain a strong growth trend. From January to June 2026, the trade volume between the two countries reached 4.82 billion US dollars, with June alone accounting for 890 million US dollars in trade volume. Turkmenistan's exports to China account for the vast majority of its total trade volume, while the scale of imports from China continues to expand. As one of the most important energy strategic channels in northwest China, the China Turkey natural gas pipeline continuously delivers natural gas from Turkmenistan to China. This energy artery has become a solid link for economic and trade cooperation between the two countries.

Half year trade volume exceeds 4.8 billion

According to data from the General Administration of Customs of China, the trade volume between Turkmenistan and China reached 4.82 billion US dollars from January to June 2026. In June 2026 alone, the trade volume between the two countries reached 890 million US dollars. Turkmenistan's exports to China account for the vast majority of its total trade volume. From January to June, Turkmenistan exported products worth $4.44 billion to China, while importing goods worth $777 million from China during the same period. In 2025, the trade volume between Turkmenistan and China will reach 10.05 billion US dollars, and the trade between China and Turkey will continue to operate at a high level. From annual data, bilateral trade between China and Turkey has maintained a scale of billions of dollars for several consecutive years, demonstrating the stability and resilience of the economic and trade relations between the two countries.

Laying the foundation for energy cooperation

Turkmenistan is one of China's important natural gas suppliers, and the China Turkey natural gas pipeline is an important energy strategic channel in the northwest direction of China. Stable energy trade provides a solid foundation for bilateral trade volume, with Turkmenistan's exports to China mainly consisting of energy products such as natural gas, accounting for the vast majority of total exports. Since its completion and operation in 2009, the China Turkey natural gas pipeline has transported over hundreds of billions of cubic meters of gas, making significant contributions to China's energy security and clean energy transformation. At the same time, Turkmenistan imports machinery and equipment, electronic products, building materials and other goods from China. The trade structure between the two countries is significantly complementary, and energy cooperation and industrial cooperation promote each other. The oil and gas exploration and development equipment, drilling and production machinery, and engineering vehicles exported by China have strong competitiveness in the Turkmenistan market, and the cooperation between the two sides in the field of oil and gas equipment is constantly deepening. Keywords: the Belt and Road news, trade, connectivity

Trade prospects remain optimistic

The cooperation between China and Turkey in the field of energy continues to deepen, and the two sides continue to promote cooperation in natural gas exploration and development, pipeline construction and operation, and other areas. With the steady growth of China's energy demand and the diversified development of Turkmenistan's economy, bilateral trade is expected to continue to maintain a growth trend. The cooperation space between the two countries in infrastructure construction, industrial manufacturing and other fields is also constantly expanding, providing new growth points for further increasing trade volume in the future. The economic and trade cooperation between China and Turkey is expanding from a single energy trade to a wider range of industrial cooperation areas, and the mutually beneficial and win-win cooperation pattern is becoming increasingly clear. Turkmenistan is advancing its economic diversification strategy and has broad demands in areas such as infrastructure construction and industrial modernization. China's mature technology and rich experience in these fields can provide strong support for Turkmenistan. In the future, the capacity cooperation and infrastructure connectivity between the two countries under the framework of jointly building the the Belt and Road are expected to continue to deepen, further enriching the connotation and level of China Turkey economic and trade cooperation.Editor/Gao Xue