China and Mongolia have signed a cooperation plan on promoting the alignment of the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) with Mongolia’s Development Road Programme. The signing ceremony took place in Beijing on Thursday 25 April.

Chinese President Xi Jinping and Mongolian President Kh.Battulga witnessed the signing after their talks. Kh.Battulga is in China for a state visit and attending the Second Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation (BRF) scheduled for April 25-27.

Xi called for more efforts to align the BRI with the Development Road Programme and promote the building of the China-Mongolia-Russia economic corridor.

Proposed by Xi in 2013, the BRI comprises the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, and aims to build trade and infrastructure networks connecting Asia with Europe and Africa along and beyond the ancient Silk Road routes.

Under the BRI, China, Mongolia and Russia signed an agreement in 2016 to build an economic corridor linking the three neighbours and boost transportation connectivity and economic cooperation in border regions.

The Chinese and Mongolian governments signed a memorandum of understanding on BRI cooperation during the first BRF in May 2017.