China and Mongolia agreed during Mongolian President Ukhnaagiin Khurelsukh's visit to China during November 27-28 to support companies in the two nations to expand coal and iron ore trades and sign medium- and long-term coal contracts.

Cooperation in areas such as trade, investment, finance, mineral energy, infrastructure, digital economy, and green development will be further expanded.

Specifically, the two nations will take energy cooperation as one of the priority directions of China-Mongolia cooperation, promoting the development of large-scale infrastructure and energy resources projects and accelerating the construction of the planned cross-border railways.

The two sides agreed to promote new freight equipment and technology at the border ports, and effectively improve the ability of customs clearance capacity. Construction of the China-Mongolia Erenhot-Zamin Uud Economic Cooperation Zone will be also encouraged, according to the meeting.

Besides, Mongolia and China will work with Russia together to intensify efforts to promote the construction of the China-Mongolia-Russia Economic Corridor and to accelerate the upgrading and development of the middle-line railway of the corridor. The laying project of China-Russia natural gas pipeline transiting through Mongolia will also be actively promoted.

(Writing by Emma Yang Editing by Tammy Yang)

For any questions, please contact us by inquiry@fwenergy.com or +86-351-7219322.

Tokyo, Dec. 1 (Jiji Press)--Japanese Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako met with visiting Mongolian President Ukhnaa Khurelsukh and his wife at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo on Thursday.

According to the Imperial Household Agency, the Emperor, during the 30-minute meeting, touched on the 50th anniversary of Japan-Mongolia diplomatic relations this year, saying, "I hope the two countries' friendly ties will develop further thanks to your visit to Japan."

The Mongolian president said he is very happy to be able to visit Japan in such an important year and meet the Emperor and Empress.

Referring to Emperor Naruhito's visit to Mongolia in 2007 when he was Crown Prince, the president said the visit was so wonderful that people in Mongolia still talk about it today.

On Thursday evening, Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako went to a concert of the Mongolian State Morin Khuur Ensemble in Tokyo's Shibuya Ward together with the Mongolian president and his wife. When he visited Mongolia, the Emperor played the viola with the orchestra.

One freight train loaded with second-hand cars, tyres and other goods departed from the China-Kazakhstan Logistics Base in Lianyungang City of east China's Jiangsu Province, and is expected to reach Mongolia's Ulaanbaatar.

The China-Mongolia Railway Express that pulls out of the Lianyungang Port has recorded more than 80 trips for the first time in a year, a significant increase of 130.9 percent year on year.

Mongolia has opened a new railway line to the border with China. It connects Zongbayan to the border city of Khangi. Once the facilities are completed, this will provide a new, second border crossing for freight trains between the countries.

The new, 227-kilometre railway line was officially opened on Friday, 25 November, by the prime minister of Mongolia, L Oyun-Erdene. He emphasised that the construction started only eight months ago, in March this year. The expectations of the railway line are high, as the countries currently share only one border crossing for rail freight, at Zamyn Uud-Erenhot.

Broad meets normal gauge

Due to the dual gauge terminal at the border, the railway connects the Mongolian Hangji and the Chinese Mandula Port. This means a much shorter distance for the transport of goods from Yuruu in northern Mongolia to Bugat in China, which is now done via the other border crossing. According to the Financial Times, the distance is reduced by 306km.

This is important for Mongolia as the country relies heavily on its export from mining. With the new railway line, the transportation cost of raw materials to China will be significantly reduced. Moreover, another railway line connecting Zuunbayan with Tavantolgoi in the west is expected to open soon. This will connect to the railway line to the border, thus enabling more export volumes to move by rails.

20 million more

When the cross-border railway line will be fully operational, the annual import and export cargo capacity is expected to increase by 20 million tons and the total amount of railway transportation by 65 per cent, according to Dayoo News.

The line is part 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.

At least 216 heads of livestock have been killed in western Mongolia by heavy snow storms, the country's National Emergency Management Agency said Tuesday.

The incidents occurred Sunday in provinces of Uvs and Khovd where heavy snow storms hit with a wind speed reaching up to 72 km per hour.

Large parts of Mongolia have been experiencing extreme cold and snow storms in recent days, with overnight temperatures dropping to minus 39 to minus 47 degrees Celsius, the country's National Agency for Meteorology and Environmental Monitoring reported.

Mongolia's climate is typical continental, with long and frigid winters. Unstable weather events are also common in the country throughout the year.

I have been a herder in Mongolia for 30 years and my life, like all other herders, depends on good pasture. But our lands are facing a growing problem of pastureland degradation. This is due to mining, but also the increasing numbers of livestock that we have been putting on the land. More animals might make more money in the short term but contribute significantly to pastureland degradation. If we don’t change our ways, we know that in the near future there will be not enough grass for our animals to eat.

While we all know that we need to change the way we use the land, I have been trying to work out how to achieve it. My wife and I started with our own herd, by selecting animals with higher productivity. We decided to keep 10 good milking cows rather than 20 cows with lower productivity. This not only eases my wife’s work as she has fewer cows to take care of and to milk, but also brings more income to our family. Most importantly, it will reduce the pressure on the pastureland that we depend on. As well as decreasing the number of livestock we keep, I am planning to grow fodder for my cows to save some parts of the pastureland of our area. I guess that means I am becoming a farmer as well as a herder!

The next challenge for me is to persuade other herders to also reduce their livestock numbers. Together we can show other community members that we all need to act responsibly to save our pasture. This is where my role as a gender and land champion is so helpful. I am proud to have been selected as a champion through working with WOLTS and PCC. I have learned a lot and feel much more confident in talking to other community members, local leaders, and also to mining companies, so we can all work collaboratively to develop responsible land governance.

It will not be a fast process, and I hope we can act quickly enough to protect our pastureland from further degradation, but I feel I have the skills and knowledge now to start making those changes, so we can protect the land and our herding lifestyle for future generations.

Odgerel is a herder from Dalanjargalan Soum in Dornogovi Province in south-eastern Mongolia. He has been a gender and land champion since 2020, having participated in the local champions training programme led by Mokoro’s WOLTS project with our Mongolian NGO partners, PCC.

WOLTS Champions’ Perspectives is a blog series in which community members share how they are supporting more inclusive, participatory and gender-equitable land governance in their local communities after taking part in the WOLTS champions training programme.

Prime Minister of Mongolia L. Oyun-Erdene received Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States to Mongolia Richard Buangan today.

While underscoring that the government of Mongolia attaches great importance to the development of mutually beneficial cooperation with the U.S., the Prime Minister congratulated the Ambassador on starting his diplomatic mission to Mongolia, which coincided with the 35th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

The head of the government expressed willingness to consolidate bilateral relations and cooperation within the Strategic Partnership and to boost trade and investment cooperation with the U.S.

While emphasizing that the U.S. is proud to be Mongolia’s important third neighbor, the Ambassador voiced his commitment to further deepening the Mongolia-U.S. Strategic Partnership and enriching economic cooperation with new content.

Tokyo /MONTSAME/. Within the framework of his state visit to Japan, President of Mongolia U. Khurelsukh today held official talks with Prime Minister of Japan Fumio Kishida.

At the official talks, the two sides reviewed the 50 years of cooperation between Mongolia and Japan since the establishment of diplomatic relations and exchanged views on future goals and prospects, as well as on cooperation in international and regional arenas.

Expressing gratitude to the Government of Japan for its consistent support for Mongolia’s democracy, reforms, and sustainable development, the President of Mongolia reaffirmed his commitment to further consolidating relations and cooperation with Japan, which shares common values of democracy, human rights, and market economy with Mongolia.

The Japanese Prime Minister expressed pleasure for the state visit by the Mongolian President which is taking place on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations. He then expressed satisfaction with the close cooperation by the sides in the regional and international arenas while reiterating that Japan stands committed to supporting Mongolia’s sustainable development.

The two sides concurred to further develop Mongolia-Japan relations based on the principles of “Special Strategic Partnership for Peace and Prosperity”. Moreover, the sides agreed to foster human-centered relations and cooperation based on the common values of democracy, freedom, human rights, and a market economy while stepping up collaborative efforts to address the challenges facing the international community.

The two sides renewed the Medium-term Program of the Mongolia-Japan Strategic Partnership, which has been a roadmap for the relations and cooperation between the two countries, and established the 10-year Action Program of the "Special Strategic Partnership for Peace and Prosperity" between Mongolia and Japan with aims to deepen cooperation in politics, trade, investment, human-centered development, and mutual exchange of citizens.

Emphasizing that Japan is one of the largest donor countries that has consistently supported activities in the economic and investment sectors since Mongolia made the transition to democracy and market economy, the sides welcomed the signing of the exchange note between the governments of Mongolia and Japan for the project to install a low-power battery charger at Darkhan substation and the project to improve Mongolia’s energy supply.

The two sides agreed to work closely together with a view to diversifying Mongolia's economy, increasing domestic production, ensuring food security, and improving the legal and business environment.

The two sides applauded the organization of the 10th consultation between the public and private sectors of the two countries which is being held as part of the Mongolian President’s visit and reaffirmed that they will take cooperation in the fields of economy, trade, and investment to a new level, intensify cooperation between the public and private sectors, and improve the benefits of the Economic Partnership Agreement.

Recognizing that mutual understanding between the peoples of the two countries is the foundation of closer bilateral relations, the sides agreed to continue the cooperation to empower human resources and encourage youth exchanges.

The two sides reiterated to continue to work together in coordination within the framework of the United Nations and other international organizations. It was also reiterated that the Japanese side will consistently support the “Ulaanbaatar Dialogue on Northeast Asian Security” which has a significant impact on ensuring peace and stability in the region.

While highlighting the importance of intensifying cooperation in environmental protection and climate change mitigation, the Japanese side pledged to plant 50,000 trees in Mongolia and organize training for 20,000 Mongolian children and youth in the field of environment, desertification, and prevention of natural disasters in support for the “One Billion Trees” national movement, spearheaded by the Mongolian President.

The state visit of Mongolian President U. Khurelsukh to Japan will be wrapped up on December 2.

FORMER Keighley and Ilkley Labour MP John Grogan has been chosen by the party to contest the seat again at the next general election.

He was selected during a meeting at Keighley's Central Hall yesterday (November 27), which saw more than 300 party members take part in a vote.

Mr Grogan served as Keighley and Ilkley MP for two years, until 2019, and had previously represented Selby between 1997 and 2010.

He says: "Keighley and Ilkley is a classic marginal seat. It is 23rd on the target list of seats for Labour at the next general election in terms of the swing required. I feel a big responsibility to win this seat for Labour again and help put Keir Starmer into Number 10 Downing Street.

"We need a competent Labour Government with a plan for a fairer and greener Britain.

"Since 1983, when it was first contested, Keighley and Ilkley has been a two-horse race between Labour and the Conservatives. I look forward to robust, but always civil, debates with the current Member of Parliament. On some issues – such as the need to rebuild Airedale Hospital, which I first raised during the last Parliament – I hope we will be able to work together."

Tokyo, Nov. 29 (Jiji Press)--Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and visiting Mongolian President Ukhnaa Khurelsukh affirmed on Tuesday that their countries will never tolerate the use of force to change the status quo, with China and Russia, which border Mongolia, in mind.

This was included in a joint statement issued after the two leaders held talks at the prime minister's office in Tokyo.

At a joint press conference following the meeting, Kishida said Japan will work to strengthen its cooperation with Mongolia to resolve global challenges.

The president voiced hope to expand and deepen bilateral cooperation to contribute to regional peace and prosperity.

In the statement, the two leaders vowed to strengthen cooperation between Japan and Mongolia in the security field, while promoting Japanese investments in Mongolia and working on exploring rare earths in Mongolia.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]