China-Mongolia anti-pandemic cooperation shows true friendship: Mongolian FM

Mongolia and China lent each other a helping hand during their most difficult times in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, demonstrating their intense friendship as "a friend in need is a friend indeed", Mongolian Foreign Minister Batmunkh Battsetseg said on Tuesday.

"The two countries' cooperation amid the pandemic is exemplary," Battsetseg said in an exclusive interview with Xinhua.

Photo taken on Oct. 22, 2020 shows the sheep donated by Mongolia at Erenhot Port in Erenhot, north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. (Xinhua/Peng Yuan)

After the onset of COVID-19, Mongolia donated 30,000 sheep to support China's COVID-19 fight. In return, China's Hubei province shipped local tea to Mongolia as gifts.

"Such a touching story vividly illustrates the profound friendship between the people on both sides," she said.

Quoting a Mongolian saying -- "it is better to send a needle when you are down rather than a camel when you are successful," Battsetseg said Mongolia appreciated China's move to donate and export COVID-19 vaccines to the country.

There have been no imported COVID-19 cases between the countries so far, despite a common border of over 4,700 kilometers, which is quite commendable, she said.

The two countries agreed to further strengthen anti-pandemic cooperation in a joint statement issued during Battsetseg's visit to China.

In addition to cooperating on pandemic prevention and control, China and Mongolia have also been working to strengthen economic and trade cooperation, as the two sides have set the goal of increasing bilateral trade volume to 10 billion U.S. dollars.

The "green channel" at the border, aimed at cutting the clearance time for fresh farm produce, is conducive to expanding trade and promoting the resumption of work and production, she said.

During her visit, the sides agreed to accelerate the alignment of the Belt and Road Initiative with Mongolia's Steppe Road Program.

"We supported the Belt and Road Initiative since it was proposed at the very beginning, and the alignment with the Steppe Road Program could help Mongolia become a bridge and bond linking Europe and Asia," she said.

Some landmark projects in mining, energy, finance, husbandry, infrastructure and environmental protection have been confirmed, and such pragmatic cooperation would definitely benefit the people in the two countries, she said.