China’s Eurasian hedge runs through Turkmenistan

WITHIN a single month, three moves put Turkmenistan at the centre of a much larger Chinese strategy.

On Mar 18, Chinese President Xi Jinping met Chairman of the People’s Council of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov in Beijing. On Mar 24, Ashgabat authorised a contract with China National Petroleum Corp Amu Darya for Phase IV of the Galkynysh gas field.

On Apr 15-17, China’s Vice-Premier Ding Xuexiang travelled to Turkmenistan as Xi’s special representative for the gas field’s groundbreaking ceremony and co-chaired the seventh meeting of the bilateral cooperation committee.