China-Mongolia trade deepens win-win cooperation, strengthening good-neighborly ties

Editor's note: Hugejiletu, a special commentator for CGTN, is a professor at the Mongolian Studies Center of Inner Mongolia University. The article reflects the author's opinions and not necessarily the views of CGTN.

China and Mongolia are important neighbors connected by mountains and rivers. Amid a complex and evolving international landscape, while occasional discordant voices attempt to cast a shadow over bilateral ties, the ship of China-Mongolia economic and trade cooperation has continued to cut through the waves along a course of mutual benefit and win-win cooperation. With tangible results, it has delivered real benefits to the peoples of both countries and injected positive energy into regional peace and stability.

Expanding trade scale and a stronger foundation for cooperation

Mongolia is rich in mineral resources, while China boasts a vast market and advanced technological expertise. This strong economic complementarity provides powerful endogenous momentum for bilateral economic and trade cooperation.

According to Mongolian statistics, China-Mongolia trade reached $18.7 billion in 2025, accounting for 69.2% of Mongolia's total foreign trade. In terms of export structure, mineral products made up 92.6% of Mongolia's exports to China, while agricultural and livestock products accounted for 5.3%. This underscores the extent to which Mongolia's development is closely tied to China. For many consecutive years, China has remained Mongolia's largest trading partner and its largest export market.

From a longer-term perspective, bilateral economic and trade cooperation has maintained rapid growth. In 2025, cargo throughput to Mongolia at ports in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region exceeded 100 million tonnes, reaching a historic high. In the first two months of 2026 alone, throughput hit 20 million tonnes, up 54.6% year on year. Against the backdrop of a sluggish global trade recovery, such growth is particularly noteworthy. It not only highlights the strong resilience of China's economy and robust market demand, but also demonstrates the stability of bilateral cooperation beyond short-term fluctuations.

Accelerated connectivity and smoother cooperation channels

For landlocked countries, limited connectivity is often the biggest constraint on development. In recent years, under the framework of aligning China-Mongolia development strategies, infrastructure connectivity projects have delivered a series of landmark outcomes, providing strong support for sustained growth in bilateral trade.

From March 24 to 26, 2026, the annual meeting of the China-Mongolia Port Cooperation Working Group was held in Baotou, Inner Mongolia. The two sides reached consensus on 15 topics, including customs clearance facilitation, resource trade cooperation, and the development of smart ports, and jointly signed a meeting memorandum.

The improvement in port clearance capacity has been particularly notable. Take the Mandula Port as an example: In 2025, it completed a facilitation upgrade project, increasing its daily cargo handling capacity from 50,000 tonnes to 80,000 tonnes – a 60% boost in efficiency. By January 26, 2026, cargo throughput at the port had already surpassed 1 million tonnes, marking a strong start to the year.

Upgraded opening-up platforms and broader space for cooperation

If ports serve as windows for China-Mongolia economic and trade cooperation, various opening-up platforms act as high grounds for its upgrading. In 2026, Inner Mongolia is focusing on three priorities – upgrading comprehensive bonded zones, fostering cross-border e-commerce, and advancing the construction of China-Mongolia economic cooperation zones – to strengthen opening-up platforms and push forward the development of an important bridgehead for China's opening-up to the north at the start of the 15th Five-Year Plan period.

Particularly noteworthy is the construction of the China-Mongolia Erenhot-Zamyn-Uud economic cooperation zone. As a major platform jointly built by the two countries, it plans to complete 100 million yuan (14.47$ million) in infrastructure investment in 2026, launch five new and ongoing projects, and strive to attract three to seven high-quality enterprises to settle in the zone within the year. Once completed, this cross-border economic cooperation zone will become a new landmark for bilateral economic and trade cooperation, providing a more convenient environment for investment and trade.

Deeper alignment of rules and a more optimized business environment

High-quality development of economic and trade cooperation requires not only "hard connectivity," but also "soft connectivity." In recent years, both countries have made continuous efforts to align rules and standards and deepen financial cooperation.

In terms of regulatory alignment, China and Mongolia have steadily optimized processes in border inspection, customs clearance, and health quarantine. At the Ceke-Shiveekhuren Port, border authorities have established joint control and coordinated clearance mechanisms. Thanks to deepening cooperation across various fields, Mongolia has adopted 56 Chinese standards, covering sectors such as mining, construction, vehicle engineering, and railways.

Moving forward together to create a shared future

China and Mongolia are neighbors that cannot be moved apart and partners that cannot be separated. Looking back, bilateral economic and trade cooperation has grown from scratch and from small to large, achieving remarkable results. Looking ahead, the space for cooperation remains vast, and the potential for development remains immense.

As Shen Minjuan, Chinese ambassador to Mongolia, noted: "No matter how the international situation evolves, China will continue to be a trustworthy and reliable partner for Mongolia." This commitment is grounded not only in geographic proximity, but also in the proven practice of mutually beneficial cooperation. The alignment between China's 15th Five-Year Plan and Mongolia's new five-year development plan presents historic opportunities for strategic synergy.

Attempts to disrupt bilateral relations with discordant voices will ultimately fail to stem the tide of China-Mongolia cooperation. Standing at a new historical starting point, there is every reason to believe that such cooperation will continue to expand, bringing more tangible benefits to both peoples and making greater contributions to regional peace, stability, and shared prosperity.

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