Sino-Mongolian Diplomatic Relations Come to A New Stage

On June 30th， Tsedenjav Sukhbaatar， the ambassador for Mongolia in China， held a press conference at RIA Novosti， and he said the recent visit to China of Sukhbaatar Batbold， Premier of Mongolia， had great historic significance.At Premier Wen Jiabao’s invitation， Mr. Bathold， Premier of Mongolia had an official visit to China from June 15th to 17th. According to Sukhbaatar， Premier Bathold’s visit began from Hong Kong， and attending the opening ceremony for Mongolian consulate general in Hong Kong was one of the main purposes there. Besides， Mr. Bathold attended the negotiations with business leaders in Hong Kong， since “Hong Kong is the nearest global financial trading center to Mongolia.” In early June， flights between Mongolia and Hong Kong opened， and Mongolia has set up an office in Hong Kong.Sukhbaatar said， during Premier Bathold’s visit， Mongolia had ten cooperative agreements signed with China， and both countries agreed on developing a strategic cooperative partnership. In addition， both countries reached agreements in fields of economy and trade， and culture. “The visit is of vital importance， and has historic significance，” said the ambassador.Sukhbaatar said， in the 60 years since China and Mongolia established diplomatic relations， there were four important documents. In 1960， China and Mongolia signed the first cooperative and mutual aid agreement during the visit of Premier Zhou Enlai to Mongolia; in 1994， the cooperative and mutual aid agreement was renewed during the visit of Premier Li Peng to Mongolia; in 2003， President Hu Jintao visited Mongolia， and both countries agreed on developing good-neighborly and mutualtrusted partner relationship. “During the recent visit of Mongolian premier Bathold to China， the two countries issued a joint communiqué that both sides agreed to establish a strategic partner relationship， which has a historic significance， meaning the relations between Mongolia and China enter a new stage，”said Sukhbaatar.At the same time， Sukhbaatar said the economic and trade contacts be- tween Mongolia and China signed during the visit involved an amount of 1 billion US dollars. Headed by Premier Batbold， the delegation included high officials from many governmental departments， who hold negotiations with corresponding parties in China. “The two countries mainly discussed the mining of some large-scale ore deposits， the construction of infrastructure， and the possibility of Mongolia entering the ocean via China， development of oil deposits， strengthening the cultural exchange， increase the number of exchanged students， protection of cultural heritage， and so on，” he said.The owner of Tavan Tolgoi Coal Mine development project which interests large mining enterprises from China， Russia and western countries may come clear before Mongolia parliament adjourns on July 11th. During the press conference held in Beijing on June 30th， Tsedenjav Sukhbaatar， ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary for Mongolia， said， since China is the nearest market and the greatest source of investments for Mongolia， development issues of projects in Mongolia will not be solved smoothly， without considering the interests of China.Tavan Tolgoi coal mine is one of the largest undeveloped coal mines in the world， with coal reserve covering an area of 400 square kilometers. The coal mine has a preliminary proved coking coal reserve of about 6.4 billion tons， including 1.8 billion tons of coking coal， 4.6 billion tons of thermal coal， with a total value of more than 300 billion US dollars.International energy giants have already competed fiercely for the development rights of Tavan Tolgoi coal mine， including the consortium composed of Shenhua Group from China and Mitsui from Japan， Peabody Energy from United States， Vale SA from Brazil， Xstrata PLC from Switzerland， the European steel giant Arcelor Mittal， and the consortium by South Korean， Japanese and Russian companies.Recently， it was reported that the number of bidders had been cut down to three. Sukhbaatar said that he also heard the rumor， and enterprises from two neighbors of Mongolia， China and Russia， were included.According to Sukhbaatar， Mongolia will first consider the two neighboring countries for the development of large mine projects， namely China and Russia， since mineral products often have huge transportation costs. South Korea and Japan are alternative choices.Now transportation is the greatest limitation that restricts the coal export from Tavan Tolgoi coal mine. Mongolia has a weak infrastructure， which challenges the coal transportation in the country. China is the largest coal consumption market in the world， and this coalmine is only 300 kilometers from the Mongolia-China border. If Shenhua wins the project， the rich energy resources in Mongolia will go to the vast market in East Asia and Southeast Asia， via the powerful transportation network of Shenhua. To facilitate the coal export from Mongolia， Shenhua invested in the construction of an energy artery between Mongolia and China， Ganquan Railway. The project launched construction on March 28th， and is expected to be put into operation by the end of this year.