Chinese President Xi Jinping has met with his Turkmen counterpart Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov and both agreed to lift bilateral ties to strategic partnership.

Turkmenistan is the first stop in President Xi's tour aimed at boosting ties between China and Central Asia.

China-Turkmenistan relations have developed smoothly since the two countries first forged diplomatic ties in 1992. Turkmenistan is a key supplier of natural gas to China, while China is Turkmenistan's largest trading partner.

President Xi's four-nation tour will also take him to Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan. This is the first time he has visited the region since taking office in March.

On September 5, Xi will attend the eighth G20 summit in St. Petersburg, at the invitation of his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin. Xi will then wrap up his trip in Kyrgyzstan, where he will attend the annual summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization in the capital Bishkek.

(CNTV.cn September 3, 2013)