2016年CRI Trade, cooperation on table as Premier Li visits Mongolia（在线收听）

The visit will be the first by a Chinese premier in six years, and the first by any Chinese leader since the recent formation of Mongolia's new government.

It's intended to strengthen bilateral relations and lead to greater cooperation between the two neighbors.

Ding Yifan is an economist with the Development Research Center of the Chinese State Council.

"A Chinese premier hasn't visited Mongolia for six years. But we should keep in mind that our president paid a visit to Mongolia not very long ago. The close relationship between China and Mongolia has been shown by this Premier's visit, which comes just after the formation of the new government. We can share some ideas about future development of the region with the new leaders in Mongolia."

Chinese President Xi Jinping's paid a state visit to Mongolia in 2014, during which the two sides upgrade bilateral ties to a comprehensive strategic partnership.

In 2013, China proposed to build the Silk Road Economic Belt, which links China with Europe through Central and Western Asia by inland routes, and the 21st-Century Maritime Silk Road connecting China with Southeast Asia, Africa and Europe by sea.

In response, Mongolia came up with their Steppe Road plan in 2014.

With an estimated investment of 50 billion U.S. dollars, the Steppe Road project includes a 997-km highway connecting China and Russia and a 1,100-km electrified railway.

It also includes the expansion of the existing Mongolian rail system, and the construction of natural gas and oil pipelines.

China's Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs Kong Xuanyou.

"During this visit, the two sides will exchange views on dovetailing the two countries' economic corridor initiatives and will try to promote more pragmatic cooperation in areas such as trade, industrial capacity, energy, finance, agriculture. A number of cooperative agreements on trade, energy, infrastructure and climate change will also be signed during the visit, which will inject more vitality into China-Mongolia ties. "

China has been Mongolia's biggest trade partner and main source of investment for many years.

Mongolia's trade with China accounts for more than 60 percent of its total foreign trade volume.

In terms of people-to-people exchanges, over 1.5 million people traveled between China and Mongolia last year, 1 million of which were Mongolians, which means about a third of its population visited China.

For CRI, I'm Min Rui.