Bilateral meetings promote friendship, mutual benefits

Editor's note: President Xi Jinping held a series of bilateral talks in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, on Thursday and Friday on the sidelines of the 22nd meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization Council of Heads of State. Following are highlights of the talks:

Mongolia

At a meeting with Mongolian President Ukhnaa Khurelsukh on Thursday, President Xi Jinping hailed the fruitful development of bilateral ties and the countries' traditional friendship, saying that relations with Mongolia have an important place in China's neighborhood diplomacy.

He said the two countries should strengthen strategic communication and policy coordination, uphold mutual respect for each other's independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity, respect the development paths independently chosen by the two peoples and firmly support each other's core interests and major concerns.

China stands ready to work with Mongolia to strengthen the exchange of experience on governance, synergize the Belt and Road Initiative and the "Prairie Road" initiative, and promote the development of the China-Mongolia-Russia Economic Corridor, Xi said.

Highlighting the sound development of the countries' relations, Khurelsukh said that Mongolia staunchly abides by the one-China policy and firmly opposes interference in China's internal affairs by any country.

Mongolia highly commends China's important contributions to safeguarding world peace and security, and supports the BRI, the Global Development Initiative and the Global Security Initiative put forward by China, he added.