China to work with Mongolia to safeguard sovereignty, independence -- Chinese premier

Chinese Premier Li Qiang meets with Mongolian Prime Minister Luvsannamsrai Oyun-Erdene on the sidelines of the 22nd Meeting of the Council of Heads of Government of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Member States in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, Oct. 26, 2023. [Photo by Yin Bogu/Xinhua]

BISHKEK, Oct. 26 (Xinhua) -- China stands ready to work with Mongolia to firmly support each other in safeguarding sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity, Chinese Premier Li Qiang said here Thursday.

He called on both sides to fully understand and firmly support each other on issues concerning their respective core interests and major concerns.

Li made the remarks during his meeting with Mongolian Prime Minister Luvsannamsrai Oyun-Erdene on the sidelines of the 22nd Meeting of the Council of Heads of Government of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Member States.

Noting that China and Mongolia are adjacent to each other by mountains and rivers, Li said that friendship and cooperation have always been the main tone of bilateral relations.

Chinese President Xi Jinping and Mongolian President Ukhnaa Khurelsukh held a fruitful meeting in Beijing not long ago, and reached a series of important consensuses on promoting the building of a China-Mongolia community with a shared future and deepening Belt and Road cooperation, which have provided strategic guidance for the sound and steady development of bilateral relations, Li said.

China is ready to work with Mongolia to implement the consensus reached by the two heads of state and always be a good neighbor and good brother who can be trusted and relied on, Li said.

He called on both sides to take the 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations and the 10th anniversary of the establishment of comprehensive strategic partnership between the two countries next year as an opportunity to carry forward the friendly tradition, build up political mutual trust, strengthen exchanges and cooperation in various fields, and provide more impetus for their respective development and revitalization, so as to create more benefits for their people.

The two sides should continue to deepen mutually beneficial cooperation, consolidate the existing gains and plan for future growth, Li said.

China is ready to strengthen cooperation with Mongolia in such fields as port connectivity, economy and trade, and green development to further expand the pie of common interests, so as to achieve win-win results, Li said.

China is ready to strengthen cooperation with Mongolia under the SCO and other multilateral frameworks to better safeguard the common interests and build a community with a shared future for mankind, Li added.

For his part, Oyun-Erdene noted that in recent years, the comprehensive strategic partnership between Mongolia and China has been continuously deepened, with close high-level exchanges and deepening mutual understanding between the two countries, adding that the economic and trade cooperation has developed rapidly.

Mongolia firmly abides by the one-China principle and opposes external interference in China's internal affairs, he said, adding that his country is ready to work with China to continuously enhance political mutual trust and mutual support and to closely synergize development strategies and initiatives put forward by the two sides.

Mongolia stands ready to work with China to strengthen border port capacity building and connectivity, promote the Belt and Road cooperation, deepen cooperation in areas including trade, railway, green development, tourism and culture, and deepen multilateral cooperation, so as to lift Mongolia-China relations to a higher level, he said.