Interview: Mongolia willing to further cooperation with China, PM

Mongolia is willing to further cooperation with China, said Mongolian Prime Minister Miegombyn Enkhbold on Tuesday in Ulanbator.

Enkhbold, who will pay an official visit to China from Nov. 22 to 27, said during an interview with Xinhua that Mongolia and China had enjoyed sound relations and cooperation in every field.

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

High-level visits have become regular and leaders of the two countries also often meet during international occasions, Enkhbold said, adding that these meetings had enhanced relations in other fields.

The two countries had no disputes and pendent issues, in fact on the contrary, they held the same or similar views on bilateral and international affairs, he said.

The two countries had many treaties and agreements on dealing with bilateral relations and last year they jointly inspected borderlines and signed documents, he said.

Economic relations between the two countries had also developed well, the prime minister said.

Statistics from China's General Administration of Customs show that trade volume between China and Mongolia from January to September hit 1.13 billion U.S. dollars.

Enkhbold said trade volume in the same term of 2005 was only 551.7 million dollars, among which export volume was 333.1 million dollars.

China had become the largest investor and trade partner with Mongolia, and sound economic cooperation had enhanced Mongolia's economy, the prime minister said.

He suggested that the two countries should make good use of the natural resources in Mongolia and make cooperation in power a top priority.

During his visit, Enkhbold will 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 Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao.

In addition to Beijing, Enkhbold will visit Urumqi, capital of northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region and Xi'an, capital of northwest China's Shaanxi Province.

Enkhbold said Mongolia would make suggestions on economic cooperation and exchange views with the Chinese side on bilateral relations and regional and international issues of common concern.

He believed his visit could enhance bilateral relations and cooperation.

Source: Xinhua