Mongolia to further ties with China: top legislator

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-12-09 14:30

ULAN BATOR -- "Mongolia will continue to enhance cooperation with China in politics, trade and economy, culture, education and health," said Mongolian Parliament Chairman Damdin Demberel in an interview with Xinhua ahead of his upcoming visit to China.

Demberel will pay a five-day visit to China from December 10 at the invitation of Wu Bangguo, chairman of the Standing Committee of China's National People's Congress. This will be Demberel's first visit to China after Mongolia's new parliament was formed earlier this year.

Demberel expressed his satisfaction with the bilateral good-neighborly partnership of mutual trust between Mongolia and China.

"The Chinese thinkers' doctrine 'loving people and treating neighbors kindly are most valuable to a country' is a reflection of the current relations between the two countries. On that basis the two sides have made joint efforts to promote bilateral relations to the current high level," he said.

"In recent years both sides have maintained frequent high-level exchanges and talks and political mutual trust reached the highest ever level," he added.

The year 2008 has been very eventful for both countries, including Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping's visit to Mongolia, and the signing of "medium-term program for cooperation of trade and economy," which Mongolia considered significant to further boosting bilateral cooperation, said the speaker.

On cooperation in trade and economy, Demberel said Mongolia is faced with opportunities to develop rapidly and China's quick economic growth has created positive conditions to Mongolia.

"The prime fields in economic cooperation between the two countries are mining, infrastructure such as petroleum exploration and development, and trade of petroleum products," he said.

Mineral resource exploitation and mining product export are important for Mongolia's economic growth, and China is the most convenient market for Mongolia, he noted.

He added that Mongolia expects investment from big Chinese companies with high-tech and environmental protection expertise.

Demberel also hoped to expand the two countries' trade, saying "China has been the biggest trade and investment partner of Mongolia for years. Mongolia hopes to raise the quality of trade to a higher level by importing Chinese traditional silk goods and handicraft and up-to-date goods of high quality."

The speaker said that bilateral economic and trade cooperation had great potentials. Closer cooperation and increasing investment will open up broader vistas and bring more benefits.

On the current global financial crisis, the speaker said the price of copper, Mongolia's primary exports, as well as its trade with China, had been affected though the crisis has left little direct impacts on the country.

"Mongolia needs to cooperate closely with China to minimize the negative impacts of the crisis, for instance by maintain the trade volume of exports such as copper, zinc and coal," he added.

Demberel also said bilateral cooperation in culture, education, science and sports would also be of great significance in promoting the friendship between the two peoples.

He said more than 700 Mongolian students are studying in China with Chinese scholarships, and scholars from the both countries are doing joint research on archaeology, grassland preservation and renewable resources.

"I believe that development of China's science will offer momentum to Mongolia's economy," he said.

During his visit to China, Demberel will hold talks with Chinese top legislator Wu Bangguo on relations and cooperation between the two parliaments.

"As a Mongolian proverb goes, 'If one strives, he will gain,' I believe my visit will promote the development of relations and cooperation between the two parliaments," the speaker added.