Trade between China and Mongolia hit 1.13 billion U.S. dollars in the first nine months, up by 88.8 percent from the same period last year, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Jiang Yu said on Tuesday.

Jiang was giving details about an official visit by Mongolian Prime Minister Miegombyn Enkhbold from Nov. 22 to 27 as guest of Premier Wen Jiabao.

Jiang said Enkhbold would meet Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress Wu Bangguo and Chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference Jia Qinglin. He will also hold talks with Wen in Beijing.

Enkhbold would also visit Urumqi, capital of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region and Xi'an, capital of Shaanxi Province.

China and Mongolia had established a good-neighborly partnership of mutual trust in 2003 when Chinese President Hu Jintao paid a state visit to Mongolia.

Jiang said overall bilateral relations were sound, with frequent high-level exchanges, expanding economic and trade cooperation and increasing mutual trust and understanding.

China believed the visit would enhance exchanges and cooperation.

Bilateral trade in 2005 reached 860 million US dollars, up by 24 percent over the previous year, Jiang added.

Source: Xinhuading it is moving ahead in the right direction.

He said that the progress in this respect is alright and there may be improvement in the coming days.

Source: Xinhua