"A relative far off is less help than a neighbor close by," this is an old Chinese saying that can better reveal China's traditional attention to relations with its neighbors.

China and Mongolia, sharing a border line of over 4,700 kilometers, are warming their ties in recent years with remarkable achievements in the past 10 years in particular, although the two countries established diplomatic relations as early as in 1949.

Right after the talks between Chinese President Hu Jintao and visiting Mongolian President Nambaryn Enkhbayar, the two heads of state attended a signing ceremony here Monday evening for 10 bilateral cooperation documents.

These documents cover border inspections, intellectual property rights, electricity, education, culture, and railway transportation, which marks another step forward since the two countries set up a good-neighborly partnership with mutual trust in 2003 when Hu paid a state visit to Mongolia.

The fact that Hu's first trip abroad after he took office as Chinese president in 2003 included Mongolia, and Enkhbayar's first destination abroad was China since he took presidency in June this year, well demonstrated the great importance the two sides attach to each other.

China adheres to the principle of building friendship and partnership with neighboring countries and the policy of fostering an amicable, peaceful and prosperous neighborhood, which was highly appreciated by Enkhbayar during his talks with Hu.

Meanwhile, the Chinese side also appreciated the Mongolian foreign policy that gives top priority to developing relations with China and Russia as Mongolia is situated just between the two giant neighbors with Russia to the north.

Prior to his trip to China, Enkhbayar told the press that Mongolia values the friendly cooperation with China and hopes his visit would boost such cooperation, especially in the economic field with expectations to enhance trade and attract more Chinese investment in the fields of railway and road construction, building power plants and a transmission network,and exploitation of mineral resources.

China has been Mongolia's largest trading partner since 1999 with a bilateral trade volume of over 600 million US dollars in 2004 and 357 million US dollars in the first half of this year. The annual growth rate has been more than 10 percent in the past few years.

Meanwhile, China has been Mongolia's biggest investor since 1998. Mongolian statistics show that by the end of 2004, over 1,640 Chinese-invested enterprises registered in Mongolia with a total investment of 460 million US dollars, accounting for over 40 percent of the country's foreign investment. The development of mineral resources received the greatest amount of Chinese investment.

Hu assured Enkhbayar that the two sides would further expand cooperation with mutual benefit with emphasis on resources development and infrastructural construction.

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said at a meeting with Enkhbayar Monday that he hoped the two sides push forward such cooperation in a down-to-earth manner while eyeing the future.

Moreover, Chinese leaders also said that China will further bilateral good-neighborly partnership with mutual trust on the basis of the Five Principles of Peaceful Co-existence.

During Enkhbayar's week-long state visit, the two sides also agreed to conduct more cooperation in such fields as culture, education, science, environmental protection, tourism, health and personnel exchanges, according to a joint statement issued here Tuesday which summarized the consensus reached between the two sides.

The joint statement says that the two sides agreed that they will continue to promote bilateral ties so as to be good neighbors in peaceful co-existence, good friends with mutual trust and good partners enjoying common development forever.

Source: Xinhua