ULAN BATOR — China agreed Tuesday to lend Mongolia 500 million dollars to help develop the landlocked nation's mining, infrastructure and finance sectors.
A total of nine agreements were signed during Premier Wen Jiabao's meeting with his Mongolian counterpart Sukhbaatar Batbold in Ulan Bator, Wen's third stop on a four nation Asian tour.
Other deals related to education and nuclear energy.
"I hope this visit will significantly push forward the China-Mongolia good-neighbourly partnership of mutual trust and enrich our relationship," Batbold told a news conference after the meeting with Wen.
Further details on the loan agreement were not provided.
During the talks, China's National Nuclear Corporation signed a preliminary agreement with Mongolia's Nuclear Energy Agency to cooperate in the development of radioactive minerals and nuclear energy.
Mongolia, which is wedged between China and Russia, has struggled to develop its economy since turning to capitalism two decades ago.
But its rich deposits of copper, gold, uranium, silver and oil have caught the eye of foreign investors.
In October, the government sealed a multi-billion-dollar deal with Canada's Ivanhoe Mines and Anglo-Australian miner Rio Tinto to develop one of the world's richest copper deposits, after years of negotiations.
Since last Friday Wen has been in South Korea and Japan. He is due in Myanmar on Wednesday for a two-day visit.
