China, Mongolia to deepen bilateral links: CPPCC chairman

China is ready to work with Mongolia to deepen and expand bilateral links in all dimensions, Jia Qinglin, head of China's top advisory body, said on Wednesday in Beijing.

Jia, chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), said that China and Mongolia should be good neighbors, good partners and good friends forever.

He made these remarks during a meeting with visiting Mongolian Minister of Defense Tserenkhuugyn Sharavdorj in the Great Hall of the People in central Beijing.

Jia said China and Mongolia are important neighbors for each other. Over the past few years, the two countries have maintained a frequent exchange of high-level visits, enhanced trade and economic cooperation, and supported and coordinated with each other on regional and international affairs.

Jia noted that the heads of state of the two countries realized exchange of visits during 2003 and 2004, and that they agreed to develop a good-neighborly partnership of mutual trust between the two countries. The development of the Sino-Mongolian partnership has laid a solid foundation for the development of bilateral relations in the new century, Jia said.

Earlier this month, Chinese President Hu Jintao and Mongolian President Nambaryn Enkhbayar met in Astana, capital city of the Central Asian nation Kazakhstan.The two leaders again reached a series of consensus on developing bilateral relations, setting the direction for continuous expansion of bilateral links, said Jia.

Jia said China will stick to the policy of treating its neighbors as partners and promoting friendship, peace and prosperity of the neighboring countries. China is ready to join hands with Mongolia to push forward bilateral relations in a comprehensive and extensive manner.

Sharavdorj said Mongolia places importance on developing relations with China and attaches top priority to developing the good-neighborly partnership of mutual trust with China in its foreign policy.

He said over the past few years, relations between Mongolia and China have seen all-round expansion as the two countries have been engaged in closer cooperation in all areas. He expressed satisfaction on the development of bilateral links.

Sharavdorj expressed the hope that the two countries would continue to expand traditional friendship, promote common development and bring benefits to the two peoples.

Source: Xinhua