Turkmenistan president visits E. China province

Visiting Turkmenistan President Saparmurat Niyazov arrived in East China's Zhejiang Province on Thursday morning to continue his China tour.

Xi Jinping, secretary of the Zhejiang Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC), met with Niyazov in Hangzhou, capital of the province.

Xi briefed Niyazov on the development of Zhejiang and economic and trade relations between Zhejiang and Turkmenistan.

Xi hoped Niyazov's visit would help strengthen economic and trade links between the two sides.

Niyazov said his trip has been fruitful, mentioning the joint statement on energy cooperation signed by the two heads of state on Monday.

He showed great interest in China's tea and silk, for which Zhejiang is famous, and hoped to learn from Zhejiang in silk production.

Following the meeting, Xi gave Niyazov a silk embroidery of the famous West Lake in Hangzhou and some "Longjing" tea, a famous tea produced in Zhejiang.

The same day, Niyazov visited the China Silk Museum in Hangzhou and the West Lake.

Niyazov arrived in Beijing on April 2 for a six-day state visit at the invitation of Chinese President Hu Jintao. Hangzhou is the third leg of his trip, after Beijing and Shanghai.

Source: Xinhua