Gen. Wei said China and Mongolia are friendly neighbors, China upholds the peaceful foreign policy and practises the diplomatic concept featuring affinity, sincerity, mutual benefit and inclusiveness in its relations with neighboring countries, and is willing to work with Mongolia to promote the comprehensive strategic partnership between the two countries.

The armed forces of China is also willing to strengthen pragmatic cooperation with the armed forces of Mongolia in areas of personnel training, joint drilling, international peacekeeping operations, anti-terrorism efforts and border control, so as to push the mil-to-mil relations to a new level, the Chinese defense chief said.

Enkhbold said Mongolia firmly upholds the one-China policy, supports the Belt and Road Initiative, and is willing to work with China to deepen pragmatic cooperation in all areas between the two countries and their militaries.

The two sides exchanged views on international and regional security situations.

Before their meeting, Wei held a welcome ceremony for Enkhbold and accompanied him to review the Guard of Honor of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA).

The parties exchanged opinions on improving trilateral cooperation in various areas, the progress in implementing the roadmap of cooperation development and the Programme for building the Russia−Mongolia−China economic corridor.

Immigration officials told the BBC that he was interviewed last week at the Israeli embassy in Moscow. He has faced delays in renewing his UK visa.

His spokesman would not comment on reports citizenship had been granted.

Mr Abramovich, 51, would be the richest person in Israel.

His UK investor visa reportedly expired some weeks ago but the British government has refused to comment on his individual case.

The delay in issuing him a new one comes amid increased diplomatic tensions between London and Moscow after the poisoning of former Russian spy Sergei Skripal in southern England.

Israeli media reports say he has been given an identity card in Israel under the Law of Return, which allows Jews to become citizens of Israel.

The Times of Israel said the interior ministry had confirmed Mr Abramovich arrived in Israel on Monday and that he had emigrated to the country.

He is a frequent visitor to Israel and bought a hotel in Tel Aviv in 2015 that reports say he has turned into a residence.

Israel passport holders are allowed to enter Britain without a visa for short stays.

Mr Abramovich is worth $11.5bn (£8.6bn), according to Forbes magazine. The move could pay off financially as new Israeli citizens are exempt from paying tax on foreign income for 10 years.

One of Russia's richest people, he bought Chelsea FC in 2003
He reportedly sold dolls before making his fortune in oil in the 1990s after the collapse of the former Soviet Union
Mr Abramovich was a one-time business partner of the late tycoon Boris Berezovky, an associate of former Russian President Boris Yeltsin
Critics say the two businessmen used their Kremlin "family" ties to acquire key state companies for below market value
Mr Abramovich served as governor of Russia's Chukotka region
He is believed to be close to current Russian President Vladimir Putin

On May 25, Ministers of the two countries signed on a grant agreement from National Defence Ministry of China to the Ministry of Defence of Mongolia.

Later, Vice Chairman of CPC Central Military Commission Xu Qiliang received Minister N.Enkhbold and the parties stressed the successful development of bilateral cooperation in defence sector.

Defence Ministries of the two countries have been developing the bilateral cooperation over the years. In 2013, a cooperation agreement in military and technical fields was concluded between the Governments. Under this agreement, Mongolian military servants have been studying at Military Universities of China and the Ministry of National Defense of China has provided financial assistance to the Ministry of Defense of Mongolia. In 1996-2014 over 260 Mongolian military servants were educated at the universities of Beijing, Shanghai and Nanjing.

Moreover, the parties conducted multilateral military trainings in the two countries since 2009. Officials said that it has not only a good influence on friendly relations between the two countries, but also a big contribution to the regional peacekeeping and global peacebuilding operations.

B.Misheel

Last week, the MPP group backed an idea for launching an Initial Public Offereing (IPO) for 30 percent of the Tavan Tolgoi project. Subsequently, the Cabinet has demanded detailed bill over the Tavan Tolgoi project.

Mongolian People’s party won majority of seats in parliamentary election in July, 2016 which allows the party to make decision by own. Mongolia is planning to bring back to life the long-delayed and massive Tavan Tolgoi coal project.

Located in the South Gobi desert, Tavan Tolgoi is home to the world’s largest high-quality coking coal deposit used in steelmaking, with reserves estimated in 7.5 billion tonnes. According to the Mongolian government, the country’s untapped mineral wealth is worth about USD 1.3 trillion.

According to the office of the provincial governor, the construction of the 20 megawatts solar power plant will begin in the second half of this year. The project will be completed by the third quarter of 2019.

The project will reduce carbon emissions by around 25,000 tons and save up to 355 million liters of water annually.

Mongolia enjoys more than 250 days of sunshine a year. Meanwhile, the country's renewable capacity nearly doubled last year, reaching 155 MW, the Ministry of Energy said.

The Japanese electronics producer installed Mongolia's first large solar power plant, with a capacity of 10 MW, in the province in January 2017. The country's second wind farm, the 50 MW Tsetsii Wind Farm, also opened in October of last year.

Mongolia seeks to provide sufficient heat and electricity for its population, especially in rural areas, and renewable energy projects are seen as a possible solution.

'The oil products will be sold to 12 consumers, including the owners of major retail site networks such as NIK KOO, Magnay Trade KOO, Oin Birge KOO, and Sod Mongol Group by the Rosneft subsidiary Rosneft-Mongolia KOO on a take or pay basis,' the statement says, adding that the total value of these contracts is USD 2.1 bln.

Rosneft supplies gasoline, diesel fuel, jet fuel, fuel oil, bituminous materials and liquefied petroleum gases to Mongolia. Contracts signed in 2014 allowed Rosneft to increase its presence in the Mongolian market to 80%.(Tass)

About 63 percent of the trucks were imported from China, 10.7 percent from Japan, and 7 percent from South Korea. The mining industry accounts for about a quarter of Mongolia's GDP and more than 90 percent of its exports.

The works will be carried out by a joint venture called TurkAkim Gaz Tasima AS. It will be owned by Gazprom and BOTAS in equal shares, Gazprom said.

Earlier, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced that Gazprom and BOTAS resolved a long-running legal dispute over import prices in 2015-2016. Turkey has long demanded a 10.25 percent discount that was reached as part of the intergovernmental agreement to construct the Turkish Stream pipeline back in 2014, but the deal was never signed. BOTAS filed a case for international arbitration in 2016, seeking a discount.

"We agreed on a 10.25% reduction in the price of natural gas in 2015-2016,” Erdogan announced while speaking at a rally on Saturday.

“We got our discount. We get about $ 1 billion worth of our rights before the election,” the Turkish President said, as cited by Anadolu Agency.

The sum that the Russian energy major reportedly agreed to pay BOTAS is the equivalent of a two-year 10.25 percent price reduction.

Gazprom confirmed that the parties have reached a pre-court settlement, but did not disclose any details.

It was reported that BOTAS refused to greenlight the building of the land-based part of the pipeline until the issue is resolved. Until now, it only permitted Gazprom to construct the undersea part of the line. The construction is currently underway.

Russia and Turkey officially agreed on the project, which consists of two branches, in October 2016. The first branch will deliver gas to Turkish consumers, while the second one will bring it to the countries in southern and south-western Europe. The European leg is expected to decrease Russia’s dependence on transit through Ukraine. Each of the lines has a maximum capacity of 15.75 billion cubic meters a year.

Gazprom finished the construction of the deep-water part of the first line of the Turkish Stream in April. The first Russian gas could start flowing through both legs of the Turkish Stream by December 2019.

South Korean pharmaceutical companies have set an eye on Mongolia. For example, Samil Pharm established a joint venture with a Mongolian firm, and Dong-A Pharmaceutical set up a factory, in the landlocked country. Il-yang Pharm exports peptic ulcer treatment Noltec, and Dongwha Pharm, digestive drink Whal Myung Su, to Mongolia.