Early on,European countries abandoned cooperation with Turkmenistan. However, China seized the opportunity and reached an agreement with Turkmenistan to jointly build a natural gas pipeline spanning over 10,000 kilometers. This project is known as the Central Asia Gas Pipeline.
The Central Asia Gas Pipeline is a massive and complex engineering project, with an impressive scale. For example, its length reaches 10,000 kilometers, making it one of the longest natural gas pipelines in the world.
Within it, Turkmenistan covers a distance of 188 kilometers, Uzbekistan covers 530 kilometers, Kazakhstan covers 1,300 kilometers, and the remaining approximately 8,000 kilometers are within China’s territory.
In 2022, Turkmenistan exported 37 billion cubic meters of natural gas to China, which not only satisfied China’s gas demand but also brought hope for Turkmenistan’s future development.
Perhaps at that time, no one could foresee that this project would not only bring significant economic benefits to Turkmenistan but also have a profound impact on the energy supply pattern of the entire region.
However, Europe has long relied on natural gas supplies from multiple source countries. Why was Europe unwilling to cooperate with Turkmenistan? What changes occurred in Turkmenistan after its cooperation with China?