This photo taken on June 21, 2023 shows cargo trucks being inspected at Ganqmod Port in the city of Bayannur, north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. The daily volume of goods handled by Ganqmod Port, the largest highway port on the China-Mongolia border, has surpassed 170,000 tonnes so far this year, the port administration said Thursday.(Xinhua/Li Yunping)

Mongolian Prime Minister Luvsannamsrai Oyun-Erdene addresses the China-Mongolia Trade and Economic Cooperation Forum in Beijing on June 29, 2023. Photo: Chi Jingyi/Global Times

Mongolia has vowed to promote more economic, trade and investment cooperation with China in a win-win way, as well as enrich the bilateral partnership, Mongolian government officials said at the China-Mongolia Trade and Economic Cooperation Forum in Beijing on Thursday.

The forum was held during a state visit by Mongolian Prime Minister Luvsannamsrai Oyun-Erdene, from Monday to Saturday. 

Mongolia welcomes Chinese enterprises to invest and do business and hopes to push for practical results in cooperation between the enterprises from the two countries in energy, science and technology, infrastructure and green development as soon as possible, Oyun-Erdene told the forum on Thursday.

 "My visit to China this time is characterized by the fact that we have not only promoted the cooperation between the two governments, but more importantly, the cooperation between enterprises," said the prime minister.

Oyun-Erdene met CHN Energy Investment Group on Wednesday and discussed how to strengthen cooperation in railway construction. 

The prime minister said that he will meet representatives from China National Petroleum Corp, China North Industries Corp and other enterprises and discuss how to improve the investment environment and strengthen mutually beneficial cooperation.

China is not only an important leader in Asia, but also an important economic driver in the world, said the prime minister. "As eternal neighbors linked by mountains and rivers, we need to support each other and further strengthen mutually beneficial cooperation," said Oyun-Erdene.

At the same forum, Mongolian Vice Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Development Chimed Khurelbaatar said that Mongolia also wants to hop on the train of fast development.

The minister introduced Mongolia's investment policies, and said that Mongolia is an ideal place for Chinese enterprises to conduct trade and investment due to its favorable geographical location, rich natural resources, sound legal system and good credit rating.

Jin Liqun, president of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, said at the forum that they are studying how to increase investment in Mongolia and expand investment areas.

"Expanding and enriching cooperation between China and Mongolia will not only help accelerate their respective economic and social development, but also benefit the economic development of the whole region," Jin stressed.

In fact, during his talk with Chinese Premier Li Qiang on Wednesday, Oyun-Erdene said that they had exchanged views on supporting enterprises by investment and strengthening mutually beneficial cooperation, and reached a series of important consensus. 

"We have agreed to finalize within 2023 some of the projects discussed between the two sides over the years, such as the connectivity of railway ports, especially the Mongolia-China Gashuun Sukhait-Ganqimaodu border port, as well as energy projects and the extension of the currency swap agreement.

In 2022, the Ganqimaodu port, the largest highway port on the China-Mongolia border, completed the customs clearance of more than 19 million tons of goods, up 100 percent from the previous year, the port administration said on June 24. 

China has been Mongolia's largest trading partner for more than a decade. Most of Mongolia's coal, copper fine powder, iron ore and other mineral products were exported to China.

"Although trade between China and Mongolia exceeded $13 billion in 2022, mining products still account for the majority of the total exports. Therefore, in the future, we need to focus on diversifying trade, expanding the scope of cooperation, and increasing new investment opportunities," Otgondavaa Amartuvshin, president of Mongolian National Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said on Thursday at the forum.

Amartuvshin disclosed that Chinese and Mongolian enterprises will sign about 25 cooperation agreements with a total value of 3 billion yuan ($414 million) at the forum.

The forum was co-hosted by the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade and Mongolian National Chamber of Commerce and Industry . More than 100 Mongolian representatives and 300 Chinese representatives from mining, construction, trade, tourism, transportation, animal husbandry and other sectors attended the event, according to statistics sent from the organizers to the Global Times.

As far as I know, there are about 300 high-level bilateral or multilateral economic and trade promotion events in China this year like the Thursday one, Wu Yitian, managing director from TOKO Technology (Wuxi) Co, told the Global Times on Thursday at the sidelines of the forum. 

TOKO is a leading manufacturer and global supplier of welding consumables, and 99 percent of its production is for export to about 30 countries.Wu also attended the China-Vietnam Trade and Economic Cooperation Forum held on Wednesday in Beijing. Vietnam's Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh paid a state visit to China from Sunday to Wednesday.

"These events will effectively support exports and promote economic and trade cooperation under the pressure of the global economic downturn," said Wu.