Chinese President Meets Mongolian Press Delegation 　　As long as China and Mongolia work together, their peoples will maintain friendship throughout generations, and their friendly and cooperative relations will have bright prospects. 　　Chinese President Jiang Zemin made the remarks during a recent interview with a Mongolian press delegation. 　　President Jiang left Beijing on the morning of July 15 for a three-day state visit to Mongolia at the invitation of his Mongolian counterpart Nachagyn Bagbandy. 　　This is Jiang's first trip to Mongolia, and also a return visit to Bagbandy's 1998 visit to China. 　　Jiang said that this year marks the 50th anniversary of Sino- Mongolian diplomatic ties and the fifth anniversary of the China- Mongolia Treaty on Friendly Cooperative Relations, adding that during his visit, he will take the opportunity to review the past and look into the future with President Bagbandy and other Mongolian leaders. This, he believes, will be of great significance to the further growth of Sino-Mongolian good neighborly and friendly relations of cooperation. 　　Despite some twists and turns in bilateral ties since the establishment of diplomatic ties, the Chinese president said, good neighborliness and friendship remain to be the mainstream. 　　Jiang said Sino-Mongolian cooperation in various fields including politics, economy, trade, culture and education has registered rapid progress and produced great achievements since the normalization of relations in 1989. 　　He said that the two countries signed a new China-Mongolia Treaty on Friendly Cooperative Relations five years ago in view of the new development, in which the two sides reiterate their stance to further promote good neighborly and friendly relations of cooperation on the basis of mutual respect for independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity, non-mutual interference in each other's internal affairs, equality, mutual benefit and peaceful co-existence. 　　This laid an important legal basis for the healthy and stable development of bilateral relations, Jiang said. 　　Jiang pointed to President Bagbandy's successful state visit to China last year, saying that during the visit, the two sides, proceeding from strategic heights at the turn of the century, defined long-term, stable, healthy and good neighborly friendship and cooperation of mutual trust oriented toward the 21st century. 　　This sets a clear direction for the future development of bilateral ties, marking a new phase of Sino-Mongolian friendship, he said. 　　"We are satisfied with the continuous growth of bilateral ties, " Jiang said, expressing the hope that his visit will help enrich and expand Sino-Mongolian friendly cooperation in all areas, and further friendship in the 21st century. 　　Mongolia is an important neighbor of China in the north, Jiang went on, and China takes a consistent and firm position in putting emphasis on developing friendship and cooperation with Mongolia. 　　He said that Mongolia also places great importance on its relations with China, and has repeatedly said that top priority is given to ties with its two neighbors, China and Russia, in the external relations. China highly values that and believes that adhering to this wise policy accords with Mongolia's fundamental and long-term interests. 　　Jiang also talked about Sino-Mongolian economic and trade cooperation, saying that there are good conditions and guarantees for further development. 　　According to him, the two countries, as close neighbors, have geographical advantages. Both developing countries that enjoy sound political relations and are carrying out economic reforms, China and Mongolia are faced with the same tasks of developing the economy and improving people's standard of living. These provide good conditions and guarantees for economic and trade cooperation between the two countries, he said. 　　The two countries are complementary to each other in the economy and trade, Jiang said, explaining that Mongolia has rich natural resources, including copper, iron, coal and oil, while China has technologies and products that are suited to Mongolia. 　　"China and Mongolia should give full play to these advantages, and conduct economic and trade cooperation based on equality and mutual benefit, from a long-term perspective, in a realistic manner, and according to actual conditions, market principles and international practice," the Chinese president said. 　　Jiang also expressed the hope that Mongolia will further improve investment environment to ensure the legal rights and interests of Chinese investors there. 　　He said that the reason why bilateral good neighborly and cooperative ties have been good is that the two countries work for peace and development, and abide by the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence. 　　He added that they should cherish and safeguard their good relations, and expressed the hope that the two countries will deepen mutual understanding and trust, proceed from the general situation of bilateral ties, seek common grounds while reserving differences, and properly handle issues that may disturb bilateral ties to ensure stable and healthy development of Sino-Mongolian relations. Chinese 1999-07-16 Page1 Full Story in Chinese