Putin agrees to Belt and Road link

By An Baijie In Tashkent (China Daily USA)

Updated: 2016-06-24

President Xi Jinping proposed joint efforts with Russia and Mongolia on Thursday to achieve fruitful results in building an economic corridor linking the three countries.

The nations should also enhance cooperation in areas including infrastructure interconnection, investment, production capacity, culture and environmental protection, he said.

Xi made the remarks at a trilateral meeting of leaders from China, Russia and Mongolia on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit.

The meeting, chaired by Xi and attended by Russian President Vladimir Putin and Mongolian President Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj, is the third of its kind.

The development strategies of the three countries - China's Belt and Road Initiative, Russia's construction of a Europe-Asia passage and Mongolia's Grass Road initiatives - should be the focus of the trilateral cooperation, Xi said.

The three countries should also enhance cooperation under the SCO framework, he said.

Putin, describing China and Mongolia as friendly neighbors based on equality, respect and mutual benefits, said Russia wants to work with the two countries to cooperate on infrastructure construction, transportation and customs facilitation.

Russia is willing to advance the process of forming a regional economic body with China and Mongolia and to enhance people-to-people exchanges, Putin said.

Elbegdorj spoke highly of building a Mongolia-China-Russia economic corridor, adding that Mongolia wants to enhance cooperation on infrastructure and economic affairs along the border region.

Ulan Bator will make efforts with Beijing and Moscow to achieve cooperation on agriculture and the prevention of natural disasters, he said.

Sun Zhuangzhi, secretary-general of the SCO Research Center at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said it has been tradition for the leaders of China, Russia and Mongolia to meet on the sidelines of SCO summits.

He said the priority for the three neighbors is to discuss details of linking their development strategies and to build the China-Mongolia-Russia corridor, which has been declared part of the Silk Road Economic Belt.

"There is huge potential in trilateral cooperation. However, to eliminate obstacles, we have to build a joint community of fate, strengthen high-level policy coordination, and make long-term top-level plans for bilateral ties and regional cooperation," he said.

anbaijie@chinadaily.com.cn

President Xi Jinping meets with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Tashkent, Uzbekistan on Thursday. Li Tao / Xinhua

(China Daily USA 06/24/2016 page1)