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.

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.

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)

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Most parts of Mongolia are experiencing extreme cold weather from Monday and through the entire this week, with overnight temperatures fell to 35-47 degrees Celsius below zero.

The heavy snow and snow storms are hitting the country’s eastern and western parts, urging the public, especially nomadic herders and drivers, to take extra precautions against possible disasters.

Mongolia’s climate is strongly continental, with long and frigid winters. A temperature of minus 25 degrees Celsius is standard during winter. Unstable weather events are also common in the country throughout the year.

The Chinese government says the number of new COVID cases reached about 38,000 on Saturday, hitting a new record for the fourth consecutive day and topping 4,000 in the capital Beijing for the first time.

Protests against the government's restrictive zero-COVID policy have taken place in Beijing and other Chinese cities.

Videos of people in Shanghai chanting "We do not want PCR tests" have been posted online.

The public anger was sparked by a rumor that the people who died in a fire in Urumqi, the central city of the Xinjiang region, on Thursday could not escape in time because their high-rise apartment building was partially locked down.

Reuters news agency footage shows people gathering at Shanghai's Wulumuqi Road -- which is named after Urumqi -- to mourn the 10 victims.

The protesters held signs that read, "Rise up, those who refuse to be slaves" -- a line from China's national anthem.

During his state visit to Mongolia in August 2014, Chinese President Xi Jinping said in his speech entitled, "Help Each Other in Crisis and Jointly Create a New Era for the Development of the China-Mongolia Relations," which was delivered at the State Great Hural, the country's parliament. He hailed the China-Mongolia friendship by saying "A good neighbor is more valuable than gold. China has the most neighbors in the world and we regard our neighbors as valuable wealth."

The treaty of friendship and mutual assistance between China and Mongolia on economic assistance and scientific and technological cooperation was signed when late Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai visited Mongolia in the spring of 1960. The current generation of leadership has nurtured the strong bonds.

During his meeting with Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi in the Mongolian capital, Ulaanbaatar on August 7, 2022, Prime Minister Luvsannamsrai Oyun-Erdene said his country regards China as a good neighbor "that is more valuable than gold." Oyun-Erdene attended the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games despite the U.S.-instigated boycott campaign. Accordingly, Mongolia has boosted its bilateral ties with China.

President Ukhnaa Khurelsukh's two-day visit to China on November 27-28 at the invitation of President Xi Jinping will advance bilateral relations in the new era. It will be Khurelsukh's first state visit as Mongolian President after the recent-concluded 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC). Mongolia attaches much significance to China's global influence and to build stronger relations with China.

During his meeting with his Chinese counterpart on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit in Samarkand of Uzbekistan on September 15, 2022, the Mongolian President said, "The comprehensive strategic partnership between the two countries is a model relationship as their traditional friendship has been going strong."

The friendship demonstrates Mongolia's unwavering support for China's Belt and Road Initiative. Mongolia is a partner in the construction of the China-Mongolia-Russia Economic Corridor that is expanding bilateral trade and improving people's livelihood. China also supports Mongolia's "Planting One Billion Trees" plan by 2030 to combat climate change and desertification.

Khurelsukh's visit will usher in closer political and economic ties with China. This will be a pragmatic political acumen of the ruling Mongolian government since Chinese investment has boosted Mongolia's socio-economic development already.

China has been Mongolia's largest source of investment and trading partner for 18 consecutive years. As of August 2022, Mongolia's total trade turnover with China hit $8.5 billion, an increase of 25.4 percent compared to the same period last year while exports reached $6.59 billion and imports reached $1.91 billion, according to the press release by Mongolian foreign ministry.

Moreover, the BRI and Mongolia's Steppe Road program are the right path for developing China-Mongolia relations by promoting the docking of bilateral development strategies. Both sides should take this visit as an opportunity to enhance their strategic mutual trust, advance pragmatic cooperation in the areas of trade and investment, as well as fortify security and defense and elevate bilateral relations to a new level.

(If you want to contribute and have specific expertise, please contact us at opinions@cgtn.com. Follow @thouse_opinions on Twitter to discover the latest commentaries in the CGTN Opinion Section.)

Editor's note: Rabi Sankar Bosu is an Indian contributor to Chinese media outlets. He writes about Chinese politics, social and cultural issues, and China-India relations with a special interest in the Belt and Road Initiative. The article reflects the author's views, and not necessarily those of CGTN.

Mongolia's President Ukhnaagiin Khurelsuh is visiting China. He will meet with President Xi Jinping and discuss bilateral relations, and international and regional issues of mutual interest. Our reporter Huang Yue spoke to the Former Mongolian Ambassador to China about ties between the two countries and prospects of future cooperation.

HUANG YUE, CGTN Reporter "This is the first time for H.E. Ukhnaagiin Khurelsuh to visit China as the president, and the news of his visit has also been heated discussed by Mongolian people. What's your expectations for his upcoming visit? What do you hope the two countries to strengthen cooperation in the future?

GALSAN BATSUKH, Chairman of Mongolia-China Friendship Association, Former Mongolian Ambassador to China "My personal expectation is to boost bilateral trade. Currently, we stand at 10 billion US dollars and that's a target set by the two governments five years ago and now we are there. During the course of next few years, if we can double this number, that will be a really good result. What Mongolia can export more is minerals, metals and livestock products. Another my personal expectation, green development breakthrough could happen during this visit. How Mongolia and China can cooperate efficiently and optimistically in terms of decreasing the carbon emissions. China has a lot of experiences and expertise acknowledged by United Nations in terms of fighting against the desertification. And Mongolia needs these experience and technologies in this area."

HUANG YUE, CGTN Reporter "Chinese Foreign Ministry said that China looks forward to working with Mongolia to 'set an example in neighborly relations to elevate China-Mongolia relations to a new height.' What do you make of the 'example in neighborly relations'?"

GALSAN BATSUKH, Chairman of Mongolia-China Friendship Association, Former Mongolian Ambassador to China "This is an important commitment on the China side to elevate the relationship to a new level. Ten years ago, China's the neighbor policy was friendly neighbor, peaceful neighbor and prosperous neighbor. But now, there is more detailed and far-looking strategy in neighborhood relationship. I think Mongolia will work towards getting the benefits of this strategy to benefit from Chinese advanced development and technology, from science, culture economy, trade and other things."