Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi held a phone conversation with Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Turkmenistan Rashid Meredov on Sunday, with both sides calling for solidarity and cooperation in global efforts against COVID-19 and stop of politicizing the pandemic, EDNews.net reports citing Xinhua.

China has always highly valued the development of friendly relations with Turkmenistan and treated Turkmenistan as a good friend, a good brother and a good partner, Wang said.

Stressing that Chinese President Xi Jinping attaches importance to establishing trust and friendship with his Turkmen counterpart Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov, Wang said the two heads of state have kept close contact and provided strategic guidance to the development of the bilateral ties.

Despite the changing international and regional situation, China will not change its policy of developing friendly relations with Turkmenistan, Wang said.

In the conversation, Wang also expressed appreciation over Turkmenistan's support for China in combating the pandemic and commended the Central Asian country's strict prevention and control measures.

The two sides should sign as soon as possible cooperation documents to align the initiative of jointly building the Belt and Road with Turkmenistan's development strategy to revive the Silk Road, and continue to maintain and develop long-term, stable and strategic cooperation on such traditional fields as natural gas, he said.