Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Mongolian Foreign Minister Nyamtseren Enkhtaivan held talks on Tuesday in Mongolia's capital Ulan Bator, vowing to advance bilateral cooperation in fighting the COVID-19 epidemic and further promote ties between the two countries. 

Anti-epidemic cooperation

Mongolian President Khaltmaa Battulga made a special visit to China at the most severe time of the epidemic in the country, expressed support for China and donated 30,000 sheep to China, Wang said, adding that Mongolian people from all walks of life initiated fundraising activities for China. 

The Chinese side also reciprocated, by sharing prevention and control experience and information with Mongolia without reservation and providing assistance with medical supplies, Wang said, noting that the relationship between the two countries has withstood the test of the epidemic outbreak and has been further improved in the joint fight against the epidemic. 

Wang said China is willing to further strengthen cooperation in the fight against the epidemic with Mongolia, consolidate the good momentum of "zero infection" on the two sides, and work together to prepare for the possible long-term presence of COVID-19.

He called on the two countries to strengthen normalized joint prevention and joint control, make better use of the "green channel" for goods exchanges, accelerate the establishment of "fast channels" for personnel exchanges and carry out vaccine and drug cooperation

Alignment of development strategies

During this visit, the two sides reached a consensus on extensive cooperation and agreed to speed up the alignment of the joint construction of the Belt and Road and Mongolia's Prairie Road development initiative.

The two sides agreed to actively promote sewage treatment plants, hydropower stations, transformation of shanty towns and other major projects that have been agreed and are under negotiation, expand the import of agricultural and animal husbandry products and coal from Mongolia, and further strengthen cooperation between ports and cross-border economic zones.

Wang said the two countries should continue to strengthen political mutual trust, consolidate the political foundation of bilateral relations, in particular respect each other's national sovereignty and territorial integrity, and refrain from interfering in each other's internal affairs. This is not only a political commitment when the two countries established diplomatic relations, but also a basic norm of international relations. It should become a "sacred needle" for the healthy and stable development of bilateral relations.

For his part, Enkhtaivan said that Mongolia attaches great importance to the development of relations with China and places cooperation with China as a priority in the country's foreign policy.

The establishment of a Green Gateway aimed at boosting trade and economic cooperation between Mongolia and China amid the COVID-19 epidemic has played an important role in restoring and expanding trade between the two countries, he said. 

The Mongolian foreign minister said that Mongolia is willing to deepen cooperation with China in areas including culture, education, health and innovation, and intensify communication and coordination on the multilateral stage to promote more mutually beneficial and win-win results. 

After the talks, the foreign ministers signed the revised Agreement on China-Mongolia Border Ports and Their Management System, the annual cooperation plan of the Chinese and Mongolian ministries of foreign affairs and other documents, and jointly met the press. 

Trade

Wang Yi on Wednesday also met Mongolian President Khaltmaa Battulga. 

President Battulga said Mongolia is willing to deepen cooperation with China, expand the scale of trade, increase the export of high-quality agricultural and livestock products and coal to China and strengthen cooperation in cross-border transportation, so as to facilitate economic and cultural exchanges between the two countries.  
 

Mongolia is willing to strengthen the trilateral cooperation between Mongolia, China and Russia to jointly maintain regional development, prosperity, peace and stability, added the president. 

Wang said China is willing to import more agricultural and energy products that meet the needs of China's domestic market, and hopes to discuss the signing of bilateral free trade agreement as soon as possible to promote the continuous growth of bilateral trade.  

China-Mongolia-Russia cooperation is mutually beneficial, Wang said, calling for more efforts to construct the China-Mongolia-Russia economic corridor and advance important cooperative projects in an orderly manner. 

Uphold one-China policy

Mongolia firmly adheres to the one-China policy and has no intention to interfere in China's internal affairs, which has not changed and will not change, Mongolian Prime Minister Ukhnaa Khurelsukh said when receiving the Chinese foreign minister on Wednesday.

During the meeting, the two sides agreed to deepen the Mongolia-China comprehensive strategic partnership, strengthen political trust and mutual understanding, while maintaining the frequency of high-level visits.

Noting Wang is the first foreign minister to visit Mongolia since the establishment of the new government, and since the outbreak of the epidemic, Khurelsukh said this reflects the traditional friendship and strategic mutual trust between the two countries.

"It is a foreign-policy priority for Mongolia to strengthen the friendly relations and cooperation with China", the Mongolian prime minister said.

China will also unswervingly continue to take strengthening friendship with Mongolia as the priority direction of China's diplomacy with neighboring countries, Wang said.

The Chinese foreign minister said the aim of his visit is to strengthen all-round cooperation between China and Mongolia in the post-epidemic period.

China and Mongolia are permanent neighbors and should be forever friends, which is not only the consensus of leaders of the two countries but also the consensus of all walks of life and the people of the two countries, Wang added.

Saying the current international situation is complex and changeable, Foreign Minister Wang pointed out that as long as China and Mongolia firmly understand each other, trust each other, and abide by consensus, the China-Mongolia friendship will be unbreakable.

He urged two sides to respect each other's national sovereignty, independence, and territorial integrity, do not interfere in each other's internal affairs, and constantly enhance political mutual trust.