Mongolian leader's visit expected to deepen ties

Beijing hopes the upcoming visit by Mongolian President Ukhnaa Khurelsukh next week will deepen strategic mutual trust and pragmatic cooperation and bring bilateral ties to a higher level, Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said on Tuesday.

Khurelsukh will pay a two-day state visit to China starting on Sunday at the invitation of President Xi Jinping, the ministry announced.

The Mongolian leader visited China in 2018 when he served as the nation's prime minister, and it will be his first China visit since he won the presidential election in June 2021.

Zhao told a news briefing that the visit was a continuation of the friendly tradition of high-level exchanges between the two nations and reflected the high-level development of their bilateral comprehensive strategic partnership.

Xi will hold talks with Khurelsukh during the visit and they will jointly witness the signing of cooperation agreements. Premier Li Keqiang and Li Zhanshu, chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, will respectively meet with the Mongolian president.

Leaders from the two countries will also exchange opinions over the bilateral relations and international issues of common concern, and will jointly plan for the future of the relationship, Zhao said.

China looks forward to working with Mongolia to use the visit as an opportunity to make bilateral relations a model for ties between neighboring countries, he added.

The visit will come two months after a meeting between Xi and Khurelsukh on the sidelines of the 22nd meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation in Samarkand, Uzbekistan.

During that meeting, Xi highlighted the need to align the Belt and Road Initiative and Mongolia's Prairie Road initiative and to promote the development of the China-Mongolia-Russia Economic Corridor.

Li Zhanshu also made an official goodwill visit to Ulan Bator in September, when he met with Khurelsukh as well as Mongolia's prime minister and parliamentary leader.

Trade between China and Mongolia surged by 35.3 percent year-on-year to $9.12 billion last year, according to the Ministry of Commerce. China has been Mongolia's largest trading partner and largest source of foreign investment for 18 consecutive years.