Top Chinese legislator discusses ties, cooperation with Mongolian leaders

ULAN BATOR, Jan. 31 (Xinhua) -- Top Chinese legislator, Wu Bangguo, pledged Thursday to advance the China-Mongolia relations of strategic partnership and bring bilateral economic cooperation to a new level.

Wu made the remarks during meetings with President Tsakhia Elbegdorj and Prime Minister Noroviin Altanhuyag.

Wu, chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC) of China, told Elbegdorj that Beijing will consolidate its good-neighborliness policy, cement mutually beneficial cooperation and strive to make the neighboring countries better enjoy the benefits brought by China's own development.

China, Wu said, is glad to see that Mongolia enjoys a growing economy, a stable society and that its people live a happy life. He promised that China will, as always, respect Mongolia's independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity.

China will also respect Mongolia's independent choice of its development path, as well as the domestic and foreign policies chosen by its own people, Wu said.

China appreciates that the newly formed Mongolian government identifies its relations with China as one of its foreign policy priorities, Wu said, adding that Beijing is willing to work with Ulan Bator to push forward their relations of strategic partnership.

Elbegdorj expressed gratitude for China's assistance to his country's socioeconomic development.

Mongolia, he said, attaches great importance to developing friendly relations and win-win cooperation with China. He voiced hope that the two countries could maintain high-level contacts, promote pragmatic cooperation in various fields and enrich their relations of strategic partnership.

Mongolia will firmly pursue the one-China policy, he said, and understands and respects China's core interests.

During a meeting with Altanhuyag, Wu said China and Mongolia share a long border, and their economies are highly complementary. Since both countries are in vital stages of development, bilateral cooperation holds tremendous potential, he added.

The two countries, Wu proposed, should adopt a long-term perspective and pursue mutually beneficial cooperation aimed for common development.

They also should integrate exploration of mineral resources, infrastructure investment and financial cooperation, and initiate and complete large-scale projects that will set an example for future projects as quickly as possible, he added.

Wu said the two countries should work together to ensure consistency in implementing policies to safeguard their business cooperation.

Altanhuyag said Mongolia will further its cooperation with China in such fields as mining, agriculture, animal husbandry, infrastructure construction and cross-border transportation. He added that Mongolia is willing to create favorable conditions for Chinese investors.

Wu also attended a ceremony to unveil the nameplate of the representative office of the Bank of China in Ulan Bator on Thursday.

The top Chinese legislator arrived in Ulan Batar on Wednesday. He is the first top Chinese legislator to visit the country in 16 years.

Wu met with his Mongolian counterpart Zandaakhuu Enkhbold on Wednesday and pledged to further develop ties with Mongolia. He said bilateral relations have entered a new stage of development since China and Mongolia established relations of strategic partnership in 2011.

He put forward a four-point proposal to further ties:

Politically, Wu said China and Mongolia should strengthen their strategic mutual trust, continue to support each other on issues concerning their core interests, and carry out close cooperation in law enforcement and non-traditional security.

Economically, Wu said, the two countries should deepen mutually beneficial cooperation in such areas as mining, infrastructure construction and finance.

Culturally, the two countries, Wu said, should intensify people-to-people exchanges in a bid to strengthen mutual understanding and consolidate their traditional friendship.

China and Mongolia also should beef up their cooperation on multilateral issues, Wu said, and support each other in global and regional issues while safeguarding their common interests.

In addition, Wu said the NPC and the State Great Hural of Mongolia, the two countries' parliaments, have carried out close and friendly exchanges. He said that he hopes that they can further strengthen communications at all levels.

For his part, Enkhbold, chairman of the State Great Hural of Mongolia, pledged to push forward cooperation with China in the fields of politics, trade and economy, and humanity, and in global and regional issues.

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