Senior Chinese, Mongolian political leaders look to build ties

Visiting Chinese State Councilor Yang Jiechi discussed strengthening cooperation in various fields with Mongolian Deputy Prime Minister Dendev Terbishdagva here Wednesday. Yang said China-Mongolia cooperation was for mutual benefit, and China never sought unilateral wins for itself in international cooperation at the expense of the cooperation partner. The economies of China and Mongolia were highly complementary to each other, Yang said, expressing the hope the two sides would outline a program for medium- and long-term development of China-Mongolia relations of strategic partnership, to promote long-term steady development of economic and trade cooperation between the two countries. Both sides needed to adhere to the policy of promoting the overall development of mineral resources, infrastructure facilities construction and financial cooperation, and explore new cooperation in such fields as deep processing of mineral products, new energy, agriculture and animal husbandry, he said. The Chinese side was willing take an active part in the construction of railroads and highways in Mongolia, promote interconnection and mutual access between the two countries, and enable Mongolian products to go global more conveniently and more swiftly via China, Yang said. He said the two sides needed to strengthen the construction frontier ports on their common borders, to promote the exchange of human resources and transportation of goods between the two countries. China supported Chinese enterprises investing in Mongolia and hoped Mongolia would provide a favorable investment environment for them. Terbishdagva said vast potential existed for cooperation between Mongolia and China. Mongolia agreed to the Chinese ideas for bilateral cooperation, and he hoped China would work out an outline for development of relations as early as possible, would improve the mechanisms for cooperation and would enrich the content of cooperation. Mongolia hoped to further promote convertibility between the two countries' currencies and welcomed investment from China, he said. On China's foreign policy, Yang said China was Mongolia's worry-free, trustworthy and responsible strategic partner, and the Chinese side always adhered to a foreign policy of building good neighborly relationships and partnerships with neighboring countries. China respected Mongolia's sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity, and respected the Mongolian people's independent choice of the development path, he said. Terbishdagva said Mongolia lauded China's diplomatic policy with its neighbors, and would like to commit itself to strengthening the Mongolia-China strategic partnership based on the principles of equality and mutual benefit. On people exchanges, Yang said China expected more Mongolians to come to China for business, study and tourism, and welcomed a delegation of 100 Mongolian youths to visit China. China would continue supporting the teaching of the Chinese language and the work of the Chinese cultural centers in Mongolia, and was willing to help Mongolia build cultural centers in China, Yang said. He said both sides would properly organize celebrations marking the 65th anniversary of diplomatic ties in 2014. Terbishdagva said Mongolia hoped to enhance cooperation between people with China and supported the youth and media exchanges between the two countries.