Trade, investment forum held in Mongolia to expand cooperation with China

ULAN BATOR, July 6 (Xinhua) -- Mongolia and China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region held a forum here with the aim of expanding trade and investment cooperation between Mongolia and China, the Mongolian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement on Thursday.

"China is Mongolia's largest trade partner and a major foreign investor. Inner Mongolia has played an important role in intensifying the trade and economic cooperation between the two countries," Mongolian Foreign Minister Damdin Tsogtbaatar said at the event.

He said that Mongolia and China have set a 10-billion-U.S.-dollar target for bilateral trade by 2020.

"To achieve the target, business entities of Mongolia and China need to closely cooperate," he said.

Over 300 business entities from the two sides have participated in the forum, which was co-organized by the Mongolian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the local government of Inner Mongolia.

Twelve companies signed deals worth 400 million dollars during the forum, the ministry said in the statement.

Within the framework of the forum, a trade fair of Inner Mongolia will be held in Mongolia's capital on July 6-9.