President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao on Wednesday sent messages respectively to Gurbungali Berdymukhamedov to congratulate him on his inauguration as president of Turkmenistan.

In his message, President Hu said that China and Turkmenistan are friendly countries and the two peoples have enjoyed profound and traditional friendship.

The friendly relations between China and Turkmenistan serve the fundamental interests of the two peoples and are conducive to the peace, stability and development of the region, he said.

"The Chinese government and people respect the development road chosen by Turkmen people and support the country's endeavor of protecting state independence, sovereignty and safety, promoting social stability and developing national economy," he added.

"China is willing to work together with Turkmenistan to deepen bilateral cooperation of mutual benefit in various fields and foster the long-term and stable cooperation between the two countries," Hu said.

Premier Wen said in his message that China-Turkmenistan relations have been developing smoothly in the past 15 years, marked by strengthened political trust, expanded pragmatic cooperation, frequent exchanges of visits and close coordination in international and regional issues.

He vowed to make joint efforts with Turkmenistan to cement the China-Turkmenistan traditional friendship and push forward bilateral cooperation in various fields, so as to benefit the two countries and peoples.

Berdymukhamedov was inaugurated on Wednesday as president of the Central Asian nation after sweeping Sunday's presidential election with 89 percent of the vote.

(Xinhua News Agency February 15, 2007)