Mongolia and Tianjin, a municipality in northern China, signed a memorandum on deepening economic cooperation on Wednesday, pledging to strengthen economic ties and expand the fields of cooperation.

Zhang Gaoli, member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and party chief of Tianjin, when meeting with visiting Mongolian Prime Minister Sanj Bayar, said that Tianjin and Mongolia had maintained cooperative relations and it was willing to deepen cooperation in more fields.

Zhang said, this year marks the 60th anniversary of the establishment of the diplomatic ties between China and Mongolia. "We are ready to take this opportunity to enhance bilateral friendly exchanges."

Bayar echoed Zhang by saying that he believed his visit to China would help strengthen bilateral exchanges and cooperation.

Statistics from the municipal government of Tianjin show that the trade volume between Tianjin and Mongolia surged 47.5 percent year on year to 61 million U.S. dollars in 2008.

Bayar said that Mongolia hoped to draw on the experience of Tianjin in ocean transportation and port management, intensify cooperation in infrastructure construction and mining and expand personnel exchanges.

Bayar kicked off his China tour on Tuesday and is scheduled to attend the 2009 meeting of the Boao Forum for Asia from April 17 to 19.

(Xinhua News Agency April 15, 2009)