Visiting Chinese President Hu Jintao met with his Turkmen counterpart Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov Friday in Ashgabat for talks on the promotion of bilateral relations.

Hu and Berdymukhamedov will discuss ways to further bilateral ties and exchange views on international and regional issues, Chinese diplomats said.

Representatives of the two countries are expected to sign a number of cooperation documents following their talks.

The two leaders will meet the press later in the day, according to the schedule.

President Hu arrived in Ashgabat Thursday for a state visit to Turkmenistan to push forward the friendly and cooperative ties between China and Turkmenistan.

In a written speech issued upon his arrival at the airport, the Chinese president said that his visit aims to strengthen friendship and enlarge mutually-beneficial cooperation between the two countries.

Turkmenistan is the last leg of Hu's three-nation tour, which has already taken him to the Republic of Korea and Tajikistan. In the Tajik capital of Dushanbe, the Chinese leader attended the summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization.

(Xinhua News Agency August 29, 2008)