Mongolia is ready to expand development cooperation with China under the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and the Global Development Initiative (GDI), Mongolian Prime Minister L.Oyun-Erdene said on Friday.

L.Oyun-Erdene made the remarks while meeting with visiting Luo Zhaohui, head of the China International Development Cooperation Agency (CIDCA), in Mongolia’s capital Ulaanbaatar.

Expressing his gratitude to the Chinese government for its long-term assistance and support to Mongolia’s economic development and people’s livelihood, Oyun-Erdene said that Mongolia is ready to further cooperation with China under the framework of the BRI and the GDI in trade, port construction, desertification prevention and control, cultural and sports exchanges, pollution control, improvement of people’s livelihood, talent training and other fields, and jointly act on the important consensus reached by the two countries’ heads of state.

For his part, Luo said that the Chinese delegation’s visit to Mongolia aims to lift the comprehensive strategic partnership between the two countries to a higher level, deepen mutual development cooperation, and promote a number of important cooperation projects, especially Mongolia’s national tree-planting campaign dubbed “Billion Trees,” so as to better benefit the two peoples.

On the same day, the CIDCA, the National Forestry and Grassland Administration of China and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China held talks with relevant departments of Mongolia. The two sides signed relevant cooperation agreements and held an unveiling ceremony for the China-Mongolia Desertification Prevention and Control Cooperation Center.