Source: News.mn, Bloomberg                   Date: 21 June, 2011

Prime Minister S.Batbold and Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao signed a strategic partnership deal in Beijing on Thursday while China agreed to provide a USD500-million loan to Mongolia. They signed the partnership agreement and oversaw the signing of eight other deals, which included economic and technological cooperation, the protection of cultural relics, and education.

“China is a good neighbor and a strategic partner,” Mr. Batbold said. Cooperation will benefit both countries as Mongolia has resources China needs, while China can provide the “markets and potential” for Mongolia’s economic development, he said. However, Mongolia doesn’t want to be only a supplier of raw materials, Mr. Batbold said. “We would like to direct the financing opportunities to the industries to create more value, more technology and more environmentally friendly approaches.”

Mongolia has been looking to sell its minerals and Mr. Batbold welcomed foreign investment in his landlocked country's resources and real estate sectors. He said Mongolia would try to provide a fairer and more transparent environment for foreign investors, who have been falling over each other to get a stake in Mongolia's coal, copper and iron sectors.

He also said Mongolia and China should pay more attention to their bilateral trade structure, noting Mongolia's exports to China mainly consist of heavy raw materials, which is bad for the environment. He also said Mongolian companies had started to invest in China, and hoped Beijing would support these firms.