China and Mongolia signed a host of agreements covering trade, finance and infrastructure, a move that experts said would encourage the alignment of the two countries' economic corridor initiatives as well as deepen regional cooperation.

China is willing to start a feasibility study on a free-trade pact with Mongolia and stands ready to move forward with Mongolia in such fields as farm and pasture product processing, housing and infrastructure, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang said Thursday during his talks with Mongolian Prime Minister Jargaltulga Erdenebat, the Xinhua News Agency reported.

Gao Shumao, former Chinese ambassador to Mongolia, told the Global Times that the agreements will boost Sino-Mongolian trade and facilitate the further development of existing ports and future economic development zones along the border, including Erenhot and Ceke in China and Mongolia's Zamyn-Uud free economic zone.

Gao said that Mongolia used to delay the construction of ports along the border over funds, security and political concerns.

China' Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region now has 16 State Council-approved frontier ports, and nine of the ports connect with Mongolia, accounting for 95 percent of the total freight volume of Sino-Mongolian trade, said Xinhua.

The two neighbors are economically complementary in that China could contribute to Mongolia's infrastructure development, especially in transportation, and become a huge market for Mongolia's energy output, said Gao, adding that Chinese enterprises in Mongolia should also become more competitive.

"These agreements could also encourage China's Belt and Road initiative to dovetail with Mongolia's Steppe Road plan and Russia's Trans-Eurasian Belt Development. There is a need to boost regional development in the face of a global economic slowdown," Zhao Huirong, a research fellow of Central Asian studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times.

China, Russia and Mongolia signed a trilateral economic partnership agreement in Tashkent, Uzbekistan during last month's 11th meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization.

However, a planned $1 billion hydropower project in Mongolia's Selenge River was suspended in June over Russia's water rights concerns. The project was funded in part by a loan from China, according to Bloomberg.

The three countries could dispel misunderstandings and reach agreements on cooperation projects, such as the construction of the Trans-Mongolian line that involve all parties, said Gao.

Zhao said that comprehensive cooperation will boost political mutual trust among the three countries and will allow them to cope with increasing challenges to regional peace and stability in Eurasia.