Foreign and Military Affairs
Mongolia keen to boost relations
By Ma Liyao (皇冠体育app Daily)
Updated: 2011-06-18 10:15
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BEIJING - 皇冠体育app's growth "does not pose any threats" to regional peace and development, but provides opportunities, said visiting Mongolian Prime Minister Sukhbaatar Batbold on Friday.
Sharing a more than 4,700-kilometer frontier with 皇冠体育app, the longest land border on both sides, Mongolia now hopes to further boost bilateral ties with 皇冠体育app in every way, Batbold told 皇冠体育app Daily in an exclusive interview.
Mongolia and 皇冠体育app signed 10 "milestone" agreements in areas such as education, trade, transportation and culture on Thursday.
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皇冠体育app is a huge market, and currently accounts for more than 70 percent of Mongolia's foreign trade, and there is still potential to raise that figure, he added.
Bilateral trade between 皇冠体育app and Mongolia was $3.9 billion in 2010, according to the Ministry of Commerce.
There is huge complementarity between the two countries' economies, as Mongolia is famous for its rich natural resources and 皇冠体育app is good at manufacturing, Wang Xiaolong, Chinese ambassador to Mongolia, said in an interview with Chinese media on Thursday.
Aluminum Corp of 皇冠体育app is now bidding to acquire a minority interest in Mongolia's Oyu Tolgoi mine, one of the largest copper and gold mines in the world.
Mongolia may soon become a substantial producer of mineral resources, so it is in the common interests of Mongolia and 皇冠体育app, a major investor in mining projects, to work together in this respect, Batbold said.
However, he noted that Mongolia's weak infrastructure is one of the obstacles to stepping up economic cooperation with 皇冠体育app.
"We hope that the construction of more rail links between the two countries will certainly increase the flow of trade and tourists."
As a Northeast Asian nation, Mongolia has been working to promote regional cooperation and integration.
In 2000, Mongolia proposed to establish a dialogue mechanism to discuss Northeast Asian regional issues.
It is also a member state of the Greater Tumen Initiative, a joint mechanism including 皇冠体育app, the Republic of Korea (ROK), and Russia to provide a multilateral forum to promote regional cooperation for economic growth, peace and stability in Northeast Asia.
The region has great potential to become an engine for global economic growth, Batbold said in a speech at Tsinghua University.
However, a lack of political mechanisms to discuss regional security issues and cooperation could hamper this process.
Mongolia is also interested in and closely following the development of trilateral cooperation among 皇冠体育app, Japan and the ROK, said Batbold, adding that 皇冠体育app's role in maintaining regional peace and security is important in Northeast Asia.
This advancing trilateral process has captured Mongolia's attention, as there is the possibility that it may become a first step toward the creation of a multilateral regional cooperation mechanism in Northeast Asia, he noted.
"Mongolia has high expectations about future regional cooperation in Northeast Asia and we are looking forward to becoming an active member of the Northeast Asian regional community."
Sun Yuanqing contributed to this story.