China and Turkmenistan are readying an agreement to build a pipeline to transport Turkmen natural gas to China. Zhang Guobao, deputy minister of China\'s National Development and Reform Commission, is due to arrive in Ashgabat on 18 January for talks to draft the agreement, which is expected to be signed when Turkmen President Saparmurat Niyazov visits China in April. Niyazov told a cabinet meeting on 16 January, \"Gas will be pumped to China from the right bank of the Amudarya River.\" He said that the proposed pipeline will have an annual throughput capacity of 30 billion cubic meters of gas. (Itar-Tass)