Mongolia and China have been at the peak of their bilateral relations and mutual trust, Mongolian Prime Minister Sanj Bayar said in an interview with Xinhua on the eve of his China trip.
Bayar will pay a five-day working visit to China starting Tuesday, and will also attend the Bo'ao Forum for Asia annual meeting, scheduled for April 17-19.
He said developing friendly relations and mutual trust with China is one of the top priorities of Mongolia's foreign policy. The bilateral relations have witnessed smooth development in all fields, and the top-level mutual exchanges and dialogues have been maintained, he said.
Bayar said the upcoming trip will be his first visit to China after he took office as prime minister, and it also coincides with the 60th anniversary of the establishment of the diplomatic relations between the two countries.
During his visit, the Mongolian prime minister said he and Chinese leaders will exchange views on a wide range of issues including economic, political and cultural cooperation. China's investment projects in Mongolia will also be discussed, he added.
Bayar said developing mutually beneficial cooperation with neighboring countries is the fundamental guideline of Mongolia's external economic policy. China has been Mongolia's largest investor and trade partner for years, and Mongolia will continue its policy of developing political, economic and trade relations with China.
Bayar said trade and economic cooperation with other countries play an important role in Mongolia's economic development. To tide over the difficulties posed by the financial crisis and maintain stable growth, the Mongolian government will implement the policy of tapping mineral resources to boost economic growth, he said.
He believed the economic and trade cooperation between China and Mongolia has been at the best in history, and will continue to progress in the future.
Bayar said the leaders of the two countries agreed that infrastructure construction and mineral resources exploitation will be one of the major areas of the economic cooperation between China and Mongolia.
He said oil exploitation and trade of oil products are the most promising elements in economic cooperation between the two countries.
Bayar said the two sides could also cooperate in producing liquefied fuels from oil derivatives and coal.
He said Mongolia has been pursuing a policy of exploiting mineral resources and exporting high value-added mineral products. He hoped big Chinese firms will participate in such cooperation projects.
Regarding specific cooperation projects, Bayar said Mongolia and China could carry out coal-to-oil conversion projects in Mongolia, build electricity joint ventures, update Mongolia's railway system, and utilize the free trade port in the Binhai new area of north China's Tianjin city.
(Xinhua News Agency April 14, 2009)
