In an exclusive interview with China Daily, Prime Minister Sukhbaatar Batbold asserted that China”s growth “does not pose any threats” to regional peace and development, but provides opportunities. Sharing a more than 4,700-kilometer frontier with China, the longest land border on both sides, Mongolia now hopes to further boost bilateral ties with China in every way, Batbold said.

“As friendly neighbors, we share the advantage of being mutually complementary to each other. That is why we aim to develop a strategic partnership with China,” Batbold said. China is a huge market, and currently accounts for more than 70 percent of Mongolia”s foreign trade, and there is still potential to raise that figure, he added.

Mongolia may soon become a substantial producer of mineral resources, so it is in the common interests of Mongolia and China, a major investor in mining projects, to work together in this respect, Batbold said. However, he noted that Mongolia”s weak infrastructure is one of the obstacles to stepping up economic cooperation with China. “We hope that the construction of more rail links between the two countries will certainly increase the flow of trade and tourists.”

Northeast Asia has great potential to become an engine for global economic growth, Batbold said in a speech at Tsinghua University. However, a lack of political mechanisms to discuss regional security issues and cooperation could hamper this process.

Mongolia is also interested in and closely following the development of trilateral cooperation among China, Japan and the ROK, said Batbold, adding that China”s role in maintaining regional peace and security is important in Northeast Asia. This advancing trilateral process has captured Mongolia”s attention, as there is the possibility that it may become a first step toward the creation of a multilateral regional cooperation mechanism in Northeast Asia, he noted.

“Mongolia has high expectations about future regional cooperation in Northeast Asia and we are looking forward to becoming an active member of the Northeast Asian regional community.”