China is working on its own coronavirus vaccine. If the World Health Organisation approves the vaccine, Beijing  will send it to Mongolia in the first place, has said the Chinese Ambassador to Mongolia Chai Wenrui. Yesterday (10 August), Vice Prime Minister of Mongolia Y.Sodbaatar received Mr. Chai Wenrui and discussed relation between the two countries.

Furthermore, China agreed to send 100,000 M95 masks to Mongolia to stop coronavirus spread.

For Mongolia, landlocked between Russia and China, it has always been important to have good relations with its two neighbours. Economically, Mongolia is more dependent on China to the south, which shares a 4,700-km border and takes almost 90 per cent of its exports, mostly coal and copper. Thus, the spread of COVID-19 in China poses particular challenges to the country. Mongolia has had to maintain good relations with Beijing to keep its economy afloat, while preventing the pandemic from spreading within its territory.

In February, Mongolian President was warmly welcomed by his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping as the first foreign head of state to visit China since the outbreak of COVID-19. The Chinese public expressed particular gratitude for his donation of 30,000 sheep as a neighbourly gift from a strategic partner.