1 MONGOLIA MARKS CENTENNIAL WITH A NEW COURSE FOR CHANGE WWW.EASTASIAFORUM.ORG PUBLISHED:2024/12/20      2 E-MART OPENS FIFTH STORE IN ULAANBAATAR, MONGOLIA, TARGETING K-FOOD CRAZE WWW.BIZ.CHOSUN.COM PUBLISHED:2024/12/20      3 JAPAN AND MONGOLIA FORGE HISTORIC DEFENSE PACT UNDER THIRD NEIGHBOR STRATEGY WWW.ARMYRECOGNITION.COM  PUBLISHED:2024/12/20      4 CENTRAL BANK LOWERS ECONOMIC GROWTH FORECAST TO 5.2% WWW.UBPOST.MN PUBLISHED:2024/12/20      5 L. OYUN-ERDENE: EVERY CITIZEN WILL RECEIVE 350,000 MNT IN DIVIDENDS WWW.GOGO.MN PUBLISHED:2024/12/20      6 THE BILL TO ELIMINATE THE QUOTA FOR FOREIGN WORKERS IN MONGOLIA HAS BEEN SUBMITTED WWW.GOGO.MN PUBLISHED:2024/12/20      7 THE SECOND NATIONAL ONCOLOGY CENTER TO BE CONSTRUCTED IN ULAANBAATAR WWW.MONTSAME.MN PUBLISHED:2024/12/20      8 GREEN BOND ISSUED FOR WASTE RECYCLING WWW.MONTSAME.MN PUBLISHED:2024/12/19      9 BAGANUUR 50 MW BATTERY STORAGE POWER STATION SUPPLIES ENERGY TO CENTRAL SYSTEM WWW.MONTSAME.MN PUBLISHED:2024/12/19      10 THE PENSION AMOUNT INCREASED BY SIX PERCENT WWW.GOGO.MN PUBLISHED:2024/12/19      КОКС ХИМИЙН ҮЙЛДВЭРИЙН БҮТЭЭН БАЙГУУЛАЛТЫГ ИРЭХ ОНЫ ХОЁРДУГААР УЛИРАЛД ЭХЛҮҮЛНЭ WWW.MONTSAME.MN НИЙТЭЛСЭН:2024/12/20     "ЭРДЭНЭС ТАВАНТОЛГОЙ” ХК-ИЙН ХУВЬЦАА ЭЗЭМШИГЧ ИРГЭН БҮРД 135 МЯНГАН ТӨГРӨГ ӨНӨӨДӨР ОЛГОНО WWW.MONTSAME.MN НИЙТЭЛСЭН:2024/12/20     ХУРИМТЛАЛЫН САНГИЙН ОРЛОГО 2040 ОНД 38 ИХ НАЯДАД ХҮРЭХ ТӨСӨӨЛӨЛ ГАРСАН WWW.NEWS.MN НИЙТЭЛСЭН:2024/12/20     “ЭРДЭНЭС ОЮУ ТОЛГОЙ” ХХК-ИАС ХЭРЛЭН ТООНО ТӨСЛИЙГ ӨМНӨГОВЬ АЙМАГТ ТАНИЛЦУУЛЛАА WWW.EAGLE.MN НИЙТЭЛСЭН:2024/12/20     Л.ОЮУН-ЭРДЭНЭ: ХУРИМТЛАЛЫН САНГААС НЭГ ИРГЭНД 135 МЯНГАН ТӨГРӨГИЙН ХАДГАЛАМЖ ҮҮСЛЭЭ WWW.EAGLE.MN НИЙТЭЛСЭН:2024/12/20     “ENTRÉE RESOURCES” 2 ЖИЛ ГАРУЙ ҮРГЭЛЖИЛСЭН АРБИТРЫН МАРГААНД ЯЛАЛТ БАЙГУУЛАВ WWW.BLOOMBERGTV.MN НИЙТЭЛСЭН:2024/12/20     “ORANO MINING”-ИЙН ГЭРЭЭ БОЛОН ГАШУУНСУХАЙТ-ГАНЦМОД БООМТЫН ТӨСЛИЙН АСУУДЛААР ЗАСГИЙН ГАЗАР ХУРАЛДАЖ БАЙНА WWW.BLOOMBERGTV.MN НИЙТЭЛСЭН:2024/12/20     АЖИЛЧДЫН САРЫН ГОЛЧ ЦАЛИН III УЛИРЛЫН БАЙДЛААР ₮2 САЯ ОРЧИМ БАЙНА WWW.BLOOMBERGTV.MN НИЙТЭЛСЭН:2024/12/19     PROGRESSIVE EQUITY RESEARCH: 2025 ОН “PETRO MATAD” КОМПАНИД ЭЭЛТЭЙ БАЙХААР БАЙНА WWW.BLOOMBERGTV.MN НИЙТЭЛСЭН:2024/12/19     2026 ОНЫГ ДУУСТАЛ ГАДААД АЖИЛТНЫ ТОО, ХУВЬ ХЭМЖЭЭГ ХЯЗГААРЛАХГҮЙ БАЙХ ХУУЛИЙН ТӨСӨЛ ӨРГӨН МЭДҮҮЛЭВ WWW.EAGLE.MN НИЙТЭЛСЭН:2024/12/19    

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MBCC “Doing Business with Mongolia seminar and Christmas Receptiom” Dec 10. 2024 London UK MBCCI London UK Goodman LLC

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President Xi Jinping Holds Talks with Mongolian President Ukhnaagiin Khurelsukh www.fmprc.gov.cn

On the afternoon of 28 November, President Xi Jinping held talks with President Ukhnaagiin Khurelsukh of Mongolia at the Great Hall of the People during his state visit to China.
President Xi welcomed President Khurelsukh and pointed out that the two presidents meeting again after two months as promised fully reflects the high level of China-Mongolia relations. The two countries are each other’s important neighbor. It is in the fundamental interests of the two peoples to maintain long-term and stable relations of good-neighborliness, friendship and cooperation. Following the principle of amity, sincerity, mutual benefit and inclusiveness, China pursues friendship and partnership with its neighboring countries. It attaches great importance to growing the friendship, mutual trust and common interests with Mongolia. The two countries have supported each other in fighting COVID-19, and enhanced traditional friendship along the way. The exchanges and cooperation between the two countries in various fields have made solid progress, setting a fine example of state-to-state relations. Facing an increasingly unstable and uncertain international environment, China is ready to work with Mongolia to build a community with a shared future between the two countries. Together, the two countries could promote long-term and steady development of the China-Mongolia comprehensive strategic partnership, and bring greater benefits to the two peoples.
President Xi expounded on the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and the five features of the Chinese modernization. He pointed out that as the CPC leads the Chinese people of all ethnic groups to advance national rejuvenation on all fronts through a Chinese path to modernization, China will not only realize its own prosperity but also contribute to its neighborhood and beyond through its own development. China and Mongolia could forge ahead together on the path of national rejuvenation and modernization, and set an example of pursuing integrated development and shared future. Through joint efforts, the two countries could promote the building of a new type of international relations and a community with a shared future for mankind.
President Xi underscored that China and Mongolia will respect each other’s independence, sovereignty, territorial integrity and the choice of development path. They will support each other on issues concerning respective core interests and major concerns. They will enhance dialogue and cooperation between various departments and at all levels, and increase mutual learning on governance. The two sides will seek greater synergy between the Belt and Road Initiative and the Development Road Initiative, between the Global Development Initiative and Mongolia’s New Recovery Policy, and between China’s two-step development strategy and Mongolia’s “Vision-2050” long-term development policy. These three lines of effort will deepen the China-Mongolia relationship and provide strong impetus to its growth. China is ready to step up cooperation with Mongolia in the key areas of economy, trade, energy, mining and connectivity, while expanding cooperation on information technology and livestock-products deep processing. The competent departments of the two countries will stay in close touch, work for an early opening of new connectivity channels, and actively advance the China-Mongolia-Russia economic corridor as well as the section of China-Russia natural gas pipeline in Mongolia. China applauds Mongolia’s “Billion Trees” initiative, and is ready to discuss with Mongolia the establishment of a cooperation center to combat desertification. The two sides will strengthen exchanges and cooperation between legislatures, governments, political parties and at the sub-national levels. They will work more closely on science and technology, education, health, tourism, media, youth and people-to-people exchanges, so as to cement China-Mongolia friendship and benefit the two peoples. China will actively support the construction of a Mongolian youth sports center and other projects as new landmarks of China-Mongolia friendship.
President Xi emphasized that as two developing countries in the Asia-Pacific, China and Mongolia share extensive common interests in international and regional affairs. China will work with Mongolia in close coordination and collaboration to jointly defend true multilateralism, reject bloc confrontation, and uphold solidarity and cooperation of the international community.
President Khurelsukh expressed congratulations once again on the successful 20th CPC National Congress and congratulated President Xi on his re-election as General Secretary of the CPC Central Committee. The Mongolian side is happy to see that under the leadership of the CPC, China has successfully realized its first centenary goal. Mongolia firmly believes that General Secretary Xi and the CPC will continue to lead the Chinese people in building China into a great modern socialist country in all respects as planned. As permanent neighbors connected by mountains and rivers, Mongolia and China are good neighbors, good friends and good partners. The two sides have rendered each other support and assistance during the pandemic and jointly responded to global challenges, a vivid example of “a friend in need is a friend indeed”. Mongolia is ready to work with China to increase political interactions, firmly support each other, respect each other’s choice of development path, and deepen the iron-clad friendship between the two countries. President Khurelsukh reiterated that Mongolia firmly upholds the one-China policy, which it will never change. China is a peace-loving country that has never invaded other countries in its history but has sincerely helped others develop. China’s Global Development Initiative and Global Security Initiative are for humanity’s peace and development. Mongolia fully supports them. Mongolia is ready to work with China to further synergize their strategies, pursue Belt and Road cooperation, expand and deepen cooperation on economy, trade, investment, minerals, energy, infrastructure, climate response, green development and desertification treatment, and build up the China-Mongolia-Russia economic corridor. As the international and regional situation is going through profound and complex changes, it is important that the two sides carry forward Asian values and jointly uphold peace, stability and development in Asia. Mongolia commends China’s efforts for upholding world peace, stability and development and the international system with the UN at its core. It will strengthen communication and collaboration with China in international affairs, in a joint effort for greater peace and development in the region.
The two sides issued a Joint Statement on Advancing the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership in the New Era Between the People’s Republic of China and Mongolia, agreeing to work together to advance modernization and toward a community with a shared future featuring peaceful co-existence, mutual support and win-win cooperation.
At the end of the talks, the two presidents witnessed the signing of bilateral cooperation documents covering economy, trade, investment, customs and desertification mitigation.
Prior to the talks, President Xi held a welcoming ceremony for President Khurelsukh in the Northern Hall of the Great Hall of the People. A 21-gun salute was fired in Tiananmen Square. The two presidents stepped onto the stand to review the guard of honor of the People’s Liberation Army.
After the talks, President Xi and Madame Peng Liyuan hosted a welcoming banquet for President Khurelsukh and his wife Bolortsetseg.
Wang Yi and He Lifeng were present at the events.
 
 
 
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In Mongolia, climate crisis threatens herding traditions www.aljazeera.com

Tsaikhir Valley, Mongolia – Myagmar-Ochir may be just three years old, but he already has big plans for his future.
“I want to be a horseman”, he says. “I want to catch horses with a rope”.
Myagmar-Ochir outlines his career aspirations while playing near a rocky stream 50 metres (164 feet) from a small ger, the traditional Mongolian tent he calls home.
Among the rocks and snow melt, the toddler spends his days straddled atop a wrought-iron bar — his pretend horse.
He whips the bar, willing it into a gallop, in imitation of his 29-year-old father, Octonbaatar, who lives among a small community of Mongolians eking out a life as herders in the Tsaikhir — a frigid, desolate valley 800km (500 miles) west of Mongolia’s capital, Ulaanbaatar.
They are nomads, shifting location with the seasons. And for generations, Octonbaatar’s family has relied on the small stream that now serves as his son’s playground.
He and his wife, Chuluunchimeg, 30, and their three children move to this quiet corner of the valley each autumn for the long grass to feed their horses and yak and the steady flow of water in their private creek.
But for the third year running, the stream has slowed to a trickle while the hills, once vibrant and healthy, are now barren and lifeless.
“We don’t have green summers anymore”, Octonbaatar wistfully tells Al Jazeera. “And there is less water here than last year.”
Myagmar-Ochir, 3, playing on the steppe next to a stream. He looks happy and excited.
He points towards a distant hilltop, lightly dusted in greying, barely-visible snow.
“[The mountain] used to be snow-capped all year round. But it has been melting,” Octonbaatar added.
Abandoning the steppes
The Tsaikhir Valley may be one of the world’s coldest places, with winter temperatures routinely plummeting below -50C (-58F), but the increasing intensity of its drought conditions, fuelled by ever-warming summers, have left local people wondering how much longer they can hold on. Myagmar-Ochir’s dream of following in his father’s footsteps — and maintaining a culture that has survived for millennia — is under threat.
The Tsaikhir may be on Mongolia’s climate front line, but its herders are not alone in their environmental struggle.
One-third of Mongolia’s three million citizens continue nomadic traditions that are intimately entwined with their natural environment.
As the climate becomes more extreme, both droughts and worsening winter storms, known as dzuds, are disrupting ancient traditions across Mongolia’s steppe.
Many of the Tsaikhir’s young boys and girls no longer see a future in the valley where they were raised; instead, most have eyes on a career in the city, a trend that has seen the Mongolian capital swell in recent years as herders flee the volatility of nomadic life for the relative stability and modern comforts of Ulaanbaatar.
For Tsaikhir locals, the dramatic transformation of their landscape has taken place within only a single generation.
Bayarkhuu is a 32-year-old herder based in the valley.
Shwara, 18, hopes to join the Winter Herd one day. He is sitting in the brown grass looking pensive with his horse grazing behind him
Al Jazeera spoke to him at the end of a local horse-wrangling competition, in which Bayarkhuu was victorious.
He remembers a childhood rich in greenery.
“We used to have grass to our knees”, he said, recounting his childhood while looking out over the now brown landscape.
Although the summer droughts are the most obvious sign of climate degradation in the Tsaikhir, it is in the depths of winter that the cultural ramifications of climate change are most felt.
Traditionally, the valley’s families assemble a huge winter herd of more than 2,000 horses each October. By gathering the animals into a single mass, families’ horses — their most valuable possessions — are protected from the arctic conditions.
For five months, three young men nominated by the Tsaikhir community will watch over the horses.
The men camp alongside the animals in the harsh conditions, often firing warning shots at the hungry wolves that opportunistically follow the herd.
Protecting the winter herd may be risky and a potentially dangerous coming-of-age ritual, but it is also an honourable tradition and one the young men who seek a future in the valley aspire to participate in.
The only son among five children, 18-year-old Shwara left school at 14 to pursue a nomadic life. He has long hoped to be honoured with the protection of the winter herd.
“My friend advised me ‘if you go and follow the winter herd, it will be very good for you physically, and you will become an excellent horseman,” he told Al Jazeera via a translator.
“I want to go. I want to join the herd.”
But the changing climate means Shwara might never get his chance.
Tsaikhir’s 48-year-old governor, Batsehen, spoke to Al Jazeera while he travelled the valley raising donations for a community member stricken with cancer.
“The winter herd used to assemble every year,” he said. “But it hasn’t happened since 2018.
“We haven’t been able to gather the herd for three years,” Batsehen stressed.
Because the droughts have so damaged the grass cover, there is not enough undergrowth to sustainably feed the herd during the winter. Recognising this, in 2019, Batsehen and other community leaders made the difficult decision to cancel the winter herd for the first time in memory, fearing that if they went ahead with the tradition, they might irreparably damage what remained of their grasslands.
They have been unable to hold it since and families have been left to protect their horses on their own throughout winter, with often devastating consequences.
“One family lost 12 horses to wolves,” said Governor Batsehen.
China, Russia effect
The environmental threat facing the herding community of the Tsaikhir has been made worse by Mongolia’s tenuous economic position.
Wedged between a war-time Russia to the north and a zero-COVID China to the south, Mongolia’s economy has been hampered by the unprecedented isolation of its two largest trading partners.
Many herder families survive by selling animal products — mainly lamb, yak and sheep wool — to markets in China and Russia.
As border trade has slowed, a domestic glut of these products has lowered prices, reducing incomes in the Tsaikhir.
“[The] sheep wool price has declined so much because the border has been closed”, said Bakhtur, the 22-year-old elder son of a herder family.
Octonbaatar, 29, Chuuluunchimeg, 30, and their family inside their traditional ger. They look quite formal but happy
Even more exotic exports have been smashed by the ruptures in trade with China and Russia.
Bahktur and his neighbours used to collect the antlers of deer, which the animals drop each season. Before China closed its borders, Bakhtur would gather the antlers and sell them to traders bound for China, where they are used in traditional medicines.
But with China’s border closures, demand for the antlers has also collapsed.
“The horn of the deer has decreased to only 20,000 Tugrik [$6],” Bakhtur said.
Mongolia’s President Ukhnaa Khurelsukh was at COP27 in Egypt this month, promoting his country’s climate efforts.
“Mongolia is one of the countries most affected by climate change”, the president said, using the event to promote the country’s ‘One Billion Tree’ campaign, an ambitious national effort aimed at reversing Mongolia’s years of deforestation and turning swathes of sprawling steppe land into a carbon sink.
Mongolia was also among the emerging economies pushing for a ‘loss and damage’ fund — a compensation mechanism agreed after much haggling that would see the world’s largest emitters of greenhouse gases, and wealthiest countries, compensate developing nations that are vulnerable to climate change.
As the people of the Tsaikhir fear for its future, they are finding solace in the spiritual protection they believe their valley enjoys.
At the Tsaikhir’s entrance, tombs of two partially frozen monks, believed by residents to be in a semi-alive state, keep watch over the valley.
Tsaikhir Valley herders at a horse event. They are leaning over a fence with their backs to the camera. The sky is a bright blue and the landscape brown.
Life in the Tsaikhir Valley has also been made more difficult by Most local gers have shrines to the monks, who Tsaikhir families believe continue to provide good luck and protection from whatever their valley might throw at them.
“Once, someone brought a snake to Tsaikhir, but it got sick”, laughed Governor Batsehen. “We are protected from the snakes here.”
SOURCE: AL JAZEERA
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Rosneft plans to supply Mongolia with diesel fuel at discount starting in 2023 — minister www.tass.com

Rosneft will supply Mongolia with diesel fuel at a 10% discount from the global market price beginning in 2023, Minister of Mining and Heavy Industry of Mongolia Jambal Ganbaatar announced on Monday.
"Negotiations have been held with Rosneft on supplies and price issues. Starting at the beginning of 2023, diesel fuel will be supplied at a 10% discount from the price on the international market. We agreed to set the price of AI-92 gasoline at $815 per ton for a period of five years. Also, due to the recent shortage of diesel fuel, Rosneft will increase the number of its deliveries to 83,000 tons in December," the minister said.
The minister also convened a separate briefing due to a diesel fuel shortage in various districts, threatening mineral mining and exports. Mongolia's mining industry accounts for 23% of the country's GDP and 93% of exports.
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Crypto facing tougher regulation – watchdog www.rt.com

The crash of the FTX exchange has made regulating the cryptocurrency industry a more urgent matter, according to the new chair of the global securities watchdog IOSCO.
Jean-Paul Servais told Reuters that targeting such ‘conglomerate’ platforms will be the focus for 2023.
In an interview with the news agency, he said regulating crypto platforms could draw on principles from other sectors which handle conflicts of interest, such as at credit rating agencies and compilers of market benchmarks, without having to start from scratch.
While regulators have been slow to write new rules for crypto assets such as Bitcoin, the implosion of the FTX exchange could help change that, Servais said. “The sense of urgency was not the same even two or three years ago. There are some dissenting opinions about whether crypto is a real issue at the international level because some people think that it's still not a material issue and risk.”
The chief executive added: “Things are changing and due to the interconnectivity between different types of businesses, I think it's now important that we are able to start a discussion and that's where we are going.”
The Madrid-based International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) coordinates rules for G20 countries and others. The body, which has already set out principles for regulating stablecoins, will now reportedly focus on platforms which trade in them.
FTX boss accused of using offshore funds after bankruptcy
According to Servais, crypto ‘conglomerates’ such as FTX have emerged, performing multiple roles including brokerage services, custody, proprietary trading, and issuance of tokens all under a single roof, thereby giving rise to conflicts of interest.
“For investor protection reasons, there is a need to provide additional clarity to these crypto markets through targeted guidance in applying IOSCO’s principles to crypto assets,” Servais said, adding that the IOSCO intends to publish a consultation report on those matters in the first half of 2023.
FTX, which is based in the Bahamas due to loose tax laws, collapsed on November 11 in a scandal that has cost crypto investors more than $11 billion. The debacle followed reports of mishandled customer funds and abandoned acquisition plans by rival exchange Binance.
The scandal has triggered a crisis of confidence in the cryptocurrency market and caused the value of assets including Bitcoin to sink.
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Electrokinetic mining allows for green, efficient recovery of REEs www.mining.com

Researchers at China’s Guangzhou Institute of Geochemistry have developed a new technique, electrokinetic mining (EKM), for the green and efficient recovery of rare earth elements from weathering crusts.
The technique exerts a voltage on the top and bottom of the ion-adsorption rare earth deposits (IADs), which generates an electric field to accelerate REE and water migration toward the cathode.
Compared with conventional techniques, EKM achieves ~90% recovery efficiency, ~80% decrease in leaching agent usage, and ~70% reduction in metallic impurities in the obtained REEs.
To get to those figures, the scientists first carried out bench-scale experiments in a homemade prototype with a simulated IAD. Results suggested that the REE recovery efficiency achieved by the EKM technique was 2.6 times higher than that achieved by the commonly used ammonium leaching technique.
Electrokinetic mining allows for green, efficient recovery of REEs
Illustration of IAD mining via EKM and AIP mechanisms. (Graph by Nature Sustainability.)
Then, they carried out scaled-up experiments at the kilogram scale (20 kg) in a larger EKM setup. The results were consistent with the bench-scale trials, that is, the EKM technique was able to achieve higher recovery efficiency and required less treatment time.
Based on the successful bench-scale and scaled-up experiments, the researchers applied the EKM technique to an actual IAD (~14 t-scale) during an on-site field experiment. Results suggested that the REE recovery efficiency was higher than 90% in 264 hours.
The group, thus, decided to further explore the mechanisms underlying the high REE recovery efficiency of the EKM. They noticed that the applied electric field that accelerates REEs and water migration unidirectionally towards the designed place via electromigration and electroosmosis is the key to enhancing REE recovery efficiency.
According to head researcher He Hongping, apart from its sustainability and high recovery efficiency, the EKM technique shows selectivity for REEs from other metallic impurities, namely, Al3+, Ca2+ Na+, and K+.
“We identified an autonomous impurity purification mechanism during the electrokinetic process, which is based on velocity and reactivity diversity between REE and other active metal ions,” He said.
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In cold, dry Mongolia floods are now common–with devastating urban impacts www.eco-business.com

Oyunchimeg Dechinlhundev lives in the outskirts of Mongolia’s capital, Ulaanbaatar. She makes a living from raising chickens and geese, and growing vegetables.
“When I was a child, 10 days of rain never flooded our street,” Oyunchimeg, who is in her late 40s and has lived here her entire life, remembers. “But several times in the past decade 10 minutes of rain have destroyed everything I planted.”
Flooding caused by heavy rain has destroyed her crops and killed her chickens on multiple occasions. “Now, we panic and worry when the rain starts to drop,” Oyunchimeg says.
In an attempt to prevent the damage, every year at the start of summer she and her neighbours reinforce their fences with barriers made from earth.
Rainfall patterns have changed in Mongolia over the past 40 years, meteorologists have found. While overall the country receives the same amount of annual precipitation, deluges are replacing the light rain that previously would fall for more than a week. This has negative consequences for the wildlife and livestock on Mongolia’s grasslands, as well as people living in its fast-expanding cities.
In 2004, only nine incidents of heavy rains and floods were recorded by Mongolia’s National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA). In the 18 years since that number has risen, with official data recording 72 disasters just last year.
When I was a child, 10 days of rain never flooded our street. But several times in the past decade, ten minutes of rain have destroyed everything I planted.
Mongolia’s average temperature has increased by 2 degrees Celsius over the past 70 years, according to the National Agency for Meteorology and the Environmental Monitoring.
Dulamsuren Dashkhuu, senior researcher and director of the Climate Change Research Department at the Information and Research Institute of Meteorology, Hydrology and Environment, a government agency in Ulaanbaatar, explains that hotter temperatures mean more evaporation. More humidity in the air means more frequent and intense rainfall and cloudbursts – an impact of climate change.
People leave pasturelands for cities
The Mongolian Plateau is cold and dry, and annual precipitation ranges from 50 to 400 mm. For thousands of years Mongolian nomadic herders have adapted to the harsh conditions. But recently, they have had to cope with more erratic weather as sudden downpours and long periods of drought become more frequent.
This is leading to a cycle of droughts, floods and the degradation of pastureland, says Dulamsuren. “When heavy rainfall falls on dry soil, it never goes deep into the soil. Instead, the rainfall flows away or washes away the soil, or even animals and gers [traditional Mongolian yurts, which also translates as ‘home’],” she explains. According to NEMA, between 2004 and 2021 over 75,000 livestock were lost because of flooding and heavy rain.
In 1991, nomadic households accounted for more than half of the population, data from Mongolia’s National Statistical Office shows. As of 2020, they were only 26 per cent. In the past 30 years, extreme harsh weather events called dzuds have become more common, with climate change one of the driving factors, scientists have said.
Although the reasons for rural-to-urban migration are multiple and complex, a common thread is that following the loss of their animals, herders have moved from Mongolia’s pasturelands to the provincial capitals, with newcomers flocking to the biggest cities of Ulaanbaatar, Erdenet and Darkhan. Between 1990 and 2021, official data shows, the population of Ulaanbaatar nearly trebled, growing from 590,000 to 1.6 million. (It is likely much higher in reality, the result of a ban on new inflows in 2017-20 that has resulted in large numbers of unregistered residents in informal settlements.)
A UN International Organisation for Migration study in 2018 found that migrant families settle where they can afford to live – normally in a city’s outskirts, without access to central heating, running water and the sewage system. Their gers have expanded the areas of slum and informal housing, called “ger districts”.
The cheapest or free sites are on the slopes of hills or valleys – the sites most exposed to environmental hazards such as sewage runoff and flooding.
Ulaanbaatar’s slum districts the worst-equipped to deal with changing climate
In Mongolia’s harsh winters, gers are sturdy against the wind and keep out the cold. But these domed tented homes are easily damaged by running floodwater and can be washed away.
Since 2004, more than 3,500 gers have been destroyed by floods and heavy rain in Mongolia; over half of this damage occurred in just the past four years, according to NEMA.
Changing rainfall patterns around Ulaanbaatar, combined with urbanisation, have resulted in an increase in flooding around the metropolis. Jambajamts Lkhamjamts from the Department of Meteorology and Hydrology at the National University of Mongolia says that previously just over 10 incidents of light rainfall per year “was the norm” for the city, which received about 400 millimetres of annual precipitation.
“However,” he says, “after 1990, only up to five [incidents of] rains, with stronger fall rates, were recorded.” Cloud formations around the city have changed, he says, explaining that “light rain falls from low-level horizontal clouds, but heavy rain falls from vertical clouds. In Ulaanbaatar, 16 km-tall [vertical] cumulonimbus clouds are commonly observed while we don’t see lower horizontal clouds anymore.”
Mother-of-three Munkhtuya Tumurkhuyag lives in the same ger district as Oyunchimeg Dechinlhundev and has experienced the harsh impacts of the city’s changing weather first-hand. Three years ago in July, floodwater streamed through her house. She and five of her neighbours had to be hospitalised shortly afterwards with diarrhoea and vomiting, where they were told they had dysentery. “So much water and faeces came through our window. We were vomiting and had chronic diarrhoea. Plus we got pneumonia because of the cold,” she says.
The floodwaters, Munkhtuya says, swept away pit toilets used by people living in the hilly ger districts and brought the raw sewage downhill, to where her house is.
Every year for the past five years, dysentery, salmonella and hand, foot and mouth disease cases have peaked between June and August, data from the Mongolian government’s Health Development Center shows.
Munkhtuya’s house has not flooded since 2019, as a United Nations Human Settlements Programme project installed three sewage systems in the ger districts.
But Munkhtuya’s experience points to the wider problems experienced by a city whose population has grown quickly without accompanying infrastructure development. Ulaanbaatar lacks roads, electricity lines and sewage systems. Earlier this year the city’s mayoral office announced that the Ulaanbaatar city authorities have been building new sewage systems, but it has also said the city still needs to build a 300 km sewage system and water reservoir.
The city’s changing weather and lack of infrastructure have multiple societal and public health impacts. Nandintsetseg Mygmarbaatar, 34, is disabled and walks with a crutch. After heavy rain her street floods and becomes muddy, and her crutch slips easily. She says she has fallen about a dozen times and broken her ankle and elbow.
“Once our streets have been flooded, muddy puddles linger here the whole summer,” says Nandintsetseg. “Sometimes the local authorities dump some dirt to dry up the puddles, but then it floods again. Elders or people like me are forced to stay home for our safety.”
This story was published with permission from The Third Pole.
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Opening of Zuunbayan-Khangi railway set to deliver major boost to Mongolian exports and economy www.finance.yahoo.com

The Prime Minister of Mongolia, L. Oyun-Erdene, has today opened a major new rail link which will provide a significant boost to the country's export competitiveness and wider economy as part of the Government's 'New Recovery Policy'.
The Prime Minister of Mongolia L. Oyun-Erdene speaking at the opening of the Zuunbayan-Khangi railway on 25 November.
The Prime Minister of Mongolia L. Oyun-Erdene speaking at the opening of the Zuunbayan-Khangi railway on 25 November.
The Zuunbayan-Khangi railway, which runs for 226.9km across south eastern Mongolia, provides a vital connection between the Tavantolgoi-Zuunbayan railway and the Khangi-Mandal border crossing on the Mongolia-China border.
Through a further connection to a new railway under construction on the Chinese border, the transportation distance for freight across this important economic corridor will be almost halved, significantly boosting trade in minerals such as iron ore.
With construction of the Zuunbayan-Khangi railway only beginning in March 2022, the completion of this project is set to lead to a rapid 30% increase in Mongolian export freight volume, with annual freight volumes set to stabilise at around twice their current level of 10.4 million tonnes from 2025, significantly boosting state budget revenues and local employment.
Speaking following the opening, the Prime Minister of Mongolia, L. Oyun-Erdene, said:
"The new Zuunbayan-Khangi railway was built in just eight months, through a public-private-partnership investment model, and is Mongolia's new gateway for transporting mining export products competitively to the global marketplace.
" Today's opening marks a major milestone in the Government of Mongolia's 'New Recovery Policy', which is focused on strengthening the country's economy following the pandemic and making Mongolia into a leading Asian country by 2050."
Having no access to the sea, Mongolia relies on 42 dry-road border points for its trade, yet as of March this year only three of them were connected by railroads. The completion of this project delivers a second new railway crossing in the south of the country, and the ambition of the New Recovery Policy is to ensure that all border points are connected by roads, railways and highways in consecutive steps.
180 companies and over 3,500 workers took part in the construction of the railway.
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China's Inner Mongolia region sees robust foreign trade growth with Mongolia www.xinhuanet.com

In the first ten months of 2022, North China's Inner Mongolia autonomous region saw robust foreign trade growth with neighboring Mongolia, local authorities said.
During the period, the region's total import and export value to Mongolia was 35.43 billion yuan ($4.95 billion), up 31.1 percent year-on-year, reaching a new high in the recent five years, according to Hohhot Customs.
Among them, Inner Mongolia imported 19.13 billion yuan of coal from Mongolia, up 150.1 percent year-on-year.
Since the beginning of this year, Hohhot Customs has carried out container lifting operations and segmented transportation at land border ports under its jurisdiction, which has successfully ensured smooth cross-border cargo transportation on the premise that foreign freight drivers do not enter the country, thus reducing the risk of epidemic transmission and promoting the rapid increase of coal imports.
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China-Mongolia cooperation to be boosted by presidential visit: traders www.globaltimes.cn

China-Mongolia trade ties will be further strengthened and expanded to a new level, as Mongolian President Ukhnaa Khurelsukh started a state visit to China on Sunday, during which bilateral cooperation in a wide range of areas is expected to be covered, Chinese traders and analysts said.
Trade of major goods such as coal from Mongolia and manufactured goods from China will continue to play an important role in bilateral trade, along with cooperation in infrastructure, particularly regarding the expansion of transport capacity and coverage, experts and traders said. Cooperation in areas such as agriculture and mining also have great potential under an improved transport system, they noted.
A cross-border import and export agent surnamed Li, who exports about 500 or 600 containers of goods to Mongolia and imports more than 1,000 containers from the country a year, sees even greater potential for bilateral trade.
"Compared with China-Russia trade, the volume and variety of trade between China and Mongolia are not high, with the Chinese side mostly exporting steel products, building materials and daily necessities to Mongolia and importing cashmere, wool and unpolished gems in return," Li said, adding that there is great room for trade growth and the visit is expected to boost bilateral trade.
From January to October, bilateral trade reached $9.67 billion, a year-on-year increase of 22.7 percent, data from the General Administration of Customs showed. Both imports and exports achieved double-digit growth, driven by the surging trade of Mongolian coal and Chinese commodity goods, despite high global inflation and the pandemic.
Political mutual trust between China and Mongolia have created favorable conditions for bilateral economic and trade cooperation, which will further be strengthened amid the high-level meetings during the visit, Da Zhigang, director of the Institute of Northeast Asian Studies at Heilongjiang Provincial Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times on Sunday.
"There are great prospects for cooperation in the fields of logistics, infrastructure, energy, agriculture and environmental protection… and both sides will explore the potential of further expanding practical cooperation and seeking the greatest common denominator within the framework of multilateral cooperation," Da said.
The joint development of railway networks with China has enabled Mongolia to buoy trade flows and China to stabilize its market supply of core goods like coal, which is the key area with potential, and the two sides will continue to look to unleash stronger momentum for trade flows, according to Da.
The Mongolian president's visit came just two days after the Zuunbayan-Khangi railway, which runs for 226.9 kilometers across southeastern Mongolia, started operations on Friday, after eight months of construction.
The line provides a vital connection between the Tavantolgoi-Zuunbayan railway and the Khangi-Mandal border crossing on the Mongolia-China border, according to the official website of the Mongolian government, laying the foundation for the opening of another new railway transportation channel between Mongolia and China, after a 233-kilometer cross-border rail line between the Tavan Tolgoi coal field and Gashuun Sukhait on the Chinese border was launched in September.
With the railway line going into operation, the annual import and export cargo capacity will increase by 20 million tons, while the total railway transportation volume will increase by 65 percent, people.cn reported. The distance to the international market will also be shortened by 242 kilometers, meaning major savings in transportation times and costs.
Discussions about stronger transport connections were on the agenda at the recent meeting between China's Minister of Transport Li Xiaopeng and his Mongolian counterpart via video link, during which the two sides discussed plans to enhance cooperation in highways, railways and civil aviation.
"It is hoped that the transportation departments of the two countries will further improve the level of transportation interconnections, ensure the safety, stability and smooth flow of the logistics supply chain, and take cooperation between China and Mongolia in transportation to a new level," Li said.
The railway connection between China and Mongolia is not only tapping into new opportunities between the two countries but the whole regional trade network, which enables Mongolia to have better links with other Asian markets, Da said.
 
 
 
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Mongolia opens new railway to China www.sxcoal.com

Mongolia opens a new rail line to China on November 25 in a move to expand commodity exports despite the COVID-slowed cross-border trades.
The start of the 226.9-kilometer Zuunbayan-Khangi railway will speed up transportation of commodities like coal, copper, and iron ore from Mongolian mines to its main export market China. Rio Tinto's Oyu Tolgoi project in Mongolia will also be benefited from the new line.
This is the second railway export artery to China, 66 years after the construction of the Zamynuud-Erlian railway in 1956.
It was reported the customs clearance capacity of import and export products will increase by 20 million tonnes and the total freight volume of railway transportation will increase by 65% after it was put into operation, saving transportation costs and time.
(Writing by Emma Yang Editing by Tammy Yang)
For any questions, please contact us by inquiry@fwenergy.com or +86-351-7219322.
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