China calls for improved economic ties with Mongolia
Posted: 29 April 2010 0235 hrs
BEIJING: China's Premier Wen Jiabao on Wednesday called for greater economic and trade cooperation with Mongolia, during talks with the landlocked Asian nation's president, state press said.
Wen told visiting Mongolian President Tsakhia Elbegdorj that the two neighbours should seek cooperation on major industrial projects and expand business exchanges, Xinhua news agency reported.
"We should sign important economic and trade agreements to lay a solid legal basis for bilateral cooperation," the report quoted Wen as saying.
Elbegdorj's six-day visit to China - his nation's huge neighbour to the south - is his first since taking office in May 2009 and comes as ties have warmed since the end of the Cold War cut Mongolia's heavy reliance on Russia.
The Mongolian president will also hold talks with his Chinese counterpart Hu Jintao and other top officials before travelling on to Shanghai for festivities marking the start of the World Expo on Friday.
In an interview with Xinhua ahead of the visit, Elbegdorj said he wanted to "bring his country's relations with China to a new height."
For decades, Mongolia was closely aligned with Russia - China's Cold War adversary.
But Mongolia-China relations have improved over the past two decades, driven by growing trade, particularly Chinese demand for its neighbour's rich mineral deposits.
Mongolia is one of the poorest nations in Asia. - AFP/de
BEIJING: China's Premier Wen Jiabao on Wednesday called for greater economic and trade cooperation with Mongolia, during talks with the landlocked Asian nation's president, state press said.
Wen told visiting Mongolian President Tsakhia Elbegdorj that the two neighbours should seek cooperation on major industrial projects and expand business exchanges, Xinhua news agency reported.
"We should sign important economic and trade agreements to lay a solid legal basis for bilateral cooperation," the report quoted Wen as saying.
Elbegdorj's six-day visit to China - his nation's huge neighbour to the south - is his first since taking office in May 2009 and comes as ties have warmed since the end of the Cold War cut Mongolia's heavy reliance on Russia.
The Mongolian president will also hold talks with his Chinese counterpart Hu Jintao and other top officials before travelling on to Shanghai for festivities marking the start of the World Expo on Friday.
In an interview with Xinhua ahead of the visit, Elbegdorj said he wanted to "bring his country's relations with China to a new height."
For decades, Mongolia was closely aligned with Russia - China's Cold War adversary.
But Mongolia-China relations have improved over the past two decades, driven by growing trade, particularly Chinese demand for its neighbour's rich mineral deposits.
Mongolia is one of the poorest nations in Asia. - AFP/de
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