ULAN BATOR — Mongolian President Ukhnaa Khurelsukh met with Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Ulan Bator on Aug 8.

Asking Wang to convey his sincere greetings to Chinese President Xi Jinping, Khurelsukh said that Mongolia and China share a long history of exchanges, and are permanent friendly neighbors and good friends sharing weal and woe, with no political divergence or unresolved issues.

Mongolia firmly adheres to the one-China principle and believes that the issues related to Taiwan, Hong Kong, Tibet and Xinjiang are China's internal affairs, he said, noting that this is a consistent policy of the Mongolian side, and it will not change.

He said that Mongolia sincerely admires the great development achievements made by its friendly neighbor under the outstanding leadership of President Xi, and is glad to see that thanks to efforts on both sides, the important consensus reached by the two heads of state has been effectively implemented, and the goal of 10-billion-US dollar bilateral trade volume has been successfully achieved.

The Mongolian side appreciates China's insistence on sharing development opportunities with neighbors, which helps Mongolia achieve common development and win-win cooperation, he said, adding Mongolia is willing to strengthen the synergy of development strategies of the two countries and deepen cooperation in various fields such as economy, trade, ports, infrastructure, and desertification prevention and control, so as to elevate the Mongolia-China comprehensive strategic partnership to a new level.

The Mongolian president said he is looking forward to strengthening the exchanges between the Mongolian People's Party and the Communist Party of China (CPC), and opening a new century of cooperation between the two century-old major parties. He wishes the upcoming 20th National Congress of the CPC a complete success.

Mongolia highly appreciates China's epidemic prevention and control policy, which not only effectively guarantees the health and well-being of the 1.4 billion Chinese people, but also makes important contributions to the global fight against the pandemic, Khurelsukh said.

He expressed his sincere gratitude to China for overcoming its own difficulties and providing multiple batches of vaccines and anti-epidemic materials to Mongolia.

The Mongolian side speaks highly of China's positive contributions to defending the UN Charter and attaches great importance to the significance of the Global Development Initiative and the Global Security Initiative in promoting world peace, security and development, in which Mongolia will actively support, participate, deepen synergy with and put into practice, Khurelsukh said.

For his part, Wang conveyed the cordial greetings from President Xi to President Khurelsukh, noting that China and Mongolia are good neighbors that cannot be traded for gold, good brothers who share weal and woe, and good partners who overcome tough times together.

The two sides joined hands to fight the epidemic by gifting one another with sheep and tea, writing a new story of friendship between the two countries, Wang said.

Firmly adhering to the principle of "people first, life first," China is committed to protecting the life and health of the Chinese people, and has contributed to the global fight against COVID-19, which reflects the responsibility of a major country with a large population, Wang said.

China will continue to adhere to the existing policy, coordinate the epidemic prevention and control with socio-economic development, and continue to provide anti-epidemic support according to Mongolia's needs, so as to jointly defeat the epidemic, he said.

The Chinese side will continue to carry out all-round mutually beneficial cooperation with Mongolia under the guidance of President Xi's concept of amity, sincerity, mutual benefit and inclusiveness, and the principle of pursuing the greater good and shared interests, he added.

China will always be a major country that accommodates the comfort of its neighbors, provides support and assistance to them, and develops together with them, Wang said.

China is willing to cooperate with Mongolia to implement the important consensus reached by the two heads of state and, in the direction towards building a community with a shared future, to deepen the synergy between the Belt and Road Initiative and Mongolia's Prairie Road development strategy, the Global Development Initiative and Mongolia's New Revival Policy, as well as China's "two-stage" strategic plan and Mongolia's long-term development policy, so as to help Mongolia transform its resources and geographical endowments into development advantages, and better benefit the Mongolian people with the development of China-Mongolia relations, he said.

China appreciates Mongolia's reaffirmation of its firm support for the one-China principle and its opposition to interference in China's internal affairs, Wang said, adding that China also supports Mongolia in safeguarding its independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity, and taking a development path that suits its own national conditions.

Citing a Chinese proverb which goes like "For our friends, we have fine wine. For jackals or wolves, we welcome with shotguns," Wang said the Chinese side is willing to join hands with Mongolia and other developing countries to move forward together, continue to support each other on issues concerning each other's core interests, jointly maintain peace and tranquility, build a beautiful homeland, and benefit future generations.

During his visit to Mongolia, Mongolian Prime Minister Luvsannamsrai Oyun-Erdene and Chairman of the State Great Hural (Parliament) Gombojav Zandanshatar met with Wang, respectively.

Also on Aug 8, Wang held talks with Mongolian Foreign Minister Batmunkh Battsetseg and attended a joint press conference. The two sides signed documents on foreign ministries' cooperation between the two countries and witnessed the signing of cooperation documents about railway ports, health quarantine and others.