China–Mongolia relations

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
China–Mongolian relations
Map indicating locations of Mongolia and People's Republic of China

Mongolia
China
Envoy
Ambassador Tuvshin BadralAmbassador Shen Minjuan

China–Mongolia relations (

rapprochement between the USSR and China
in the late 1980s, Chinese-Mongolian relations also began to improve. Since the 1990s, China has become Mongolia's biggest trading partner, and a number of Chinese businesses operate in Mongolia.

Country comparison

Common name China Mongolia
Official name People's Republic of China Mongolia
Coat of arms
Flag China Mongolia
Anthem
Area 9,596,961 km2 (3,705,407 sq mi)

(including Hong Kong and Macau)

1,564,116 km2 (603,909 sq mi)
Population
 1,409,050,000 3,227,863
Population density
 145/km2 (375.5/sq mi) 2.07/km2 (5.4/sq mi)
Capital Beijing (21,893,095) Ulaanbaatar (1,612,005)
Largest city
 Shanghai (26,317,104)
Government Unitary one-party socialist republic Unitary semi-presidential republic
First leader Chairman Mao Zedong President Punsalmaagiin Ochirbat
Current leaders
President Xi Jinping[a]

Premier Li Qiang

 President Ukhnaagiin Khürelsükh

Prime minister Luvsannamsrain Oyun-Erdene

Established 21 September 1949 (People's Republic declared)

1 October 1949 (Proclamation of the People's Republic)

4 December 1982 (

current constitution
)

13 February 1992 (current constitution)
Official languages Standard Chinese Mongolian
Currency Yuan
Tögrög
GDP (nominal) $18.273 trillion (2024)[1] $16.908 billion (2023)
External debt (nominal) $1.843 trillion (2018 Q4) $25.2 billion (2017)
GDP (PPP) $37.072 trillion (2024)[2] $52.467 billion (2023)
GDP (nominal) per capita 12,969 (2024)[3] $6,666 (2024)
GDP (PPP) per capita $26,310(2024)[4] $20,514 (2025)
Human Development Index 0.790 (high)[5] 0.737(high)[6]
Expatriates
 ~6,300,000
Mongolians living
in China 		~40,000
Chinese living
in Mongolia
Foreign exchange reserves 3,088,000 (millions of USD) 3,697 (millions of USD)
Military expenditures
 $177.6 billion (1.9% of GDP) (2019) $210 million (1.5% of GDP) (2019)
Military personnel 3,205,000 (0.23% of population)
  • 2,035,000 (active)
  • 510,000 (reserve)
  • 660,000 (paramilitary)
 170,000 (5.2% of population)
  • 35,000 (active)
  • 135,000 (reserve)
  • unknown (paramilitary)
Army size People's Liberation Army Ground Force (2019)
  • 18,910 main battle tanks
  • 49,350 armored fighting vehicles
  • 3,710 self-propelled guns
  • 6,945 towed artillery
  • 2,890 multiple-launch rocket systems
  • 1,531 surface to air missile systems
 Mongolian Ground Force (2019)
  • 0 main battle tanks
  • 0 armored fighting vehicles
  • 0 self-propelled guns
  • 0 towed artillery
  • 0 multiple-launch rocket systems
  • 0 surface to air missile systems
Air force size People's Liberation Army Air Force
  • 2,378 fighters/interceptors
  • 550 attack aircraft
  • 191 transports
  • 980 helicopters
  • 446 attack helicopters
 Mongolian Air Force
  • 6 fighters/interceptors
  • 0 attack aircraft
  • 9 transports
  • 0 helicopters
  • 0 attack helicopters
Navy size People's Liberation Army Navy (2025)

Total naval strength: 788 ships

  • 3 aircraft carriers
  • 4 landing helicopter docks
  • 12 amphibious transport docks
  • 32 landing ship tanks
  • 33 landing ship mediums
  • 62 destroyers
  • 58 frigates
  • 75 corvettes
  • 150 missile boats
  • 26 submarine chasers
  • 17+ gunboats
  • 36 mine countermeasure vessels
  • 79 submarines
  • 19 replenishment ships
  • 232 auxiliaries
 No Navy
Nuclear warheads

active/total

500 (2024)[7] 0

Background

The Han and Mongol (as well as their ancestors, the Proto-Mongols) peoples have been in contact with each other for millennia.

Throughout history, polities in the Central Plains and the Mongolian Plateau have had complicated relations. The Great Wall was constructed to ward off attacks by nomads from the north, notably during the Han and Ming dynasties. The Tang dynasty, following its defeat of the Xueyantuo, established the Protectorate General to Pacify the North in 647 to rule the Mongolian Plateau.

In 1271, the Mongols under

Northern Yuan dynasty
.

The

Manchus in 1635. In 1644, the Ming dynasty was overthrown by peasant rebels under Li Zicheng, who established the short-lived Shun dynasty which would soon be defeated by the Qing dynasty. After 1691, Outer Mongolia were incorporated into the Qing empire during the Dzungar–Qing Wars
.

Ceremony of the destruction of Mongolia's autonomy in 1920

Tibetan into one great Republic of China" ([...] 仍合滿、漢、蒙、回、藏五族完全領土，為一大中華民國).[9][10][11] However, the Chinese government lacked any stable control over the region due to massive civil wars in the south and the rise of regional warlords in the Warlord Era. Consequently, Outer Mongolia sought Russian support to claim its independence. In 1919, Chinese general Xu Shuzheng advanced into Outer Mongolia and annulled its independence. In 1921, Chinese forces were driven out by White Russian forces led by Baron Roman von Ungern-Sternberg.[12] Some months later they were driven out by the Red Army of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, the Far Eastern Republic and pro-Soviet Mongolian forces. In 1924, the Mongolian People's Republic was proclaimed. With the onset of the Japanese invasion of China
, little effort was given to reestablish Chinese control over Outer Mongolia.

Following the end of World War II, the Republic of China, led by the Kuomintang, was forced to formally accept Outer Mongolian independence under Soviet pressure. Recognition of Mongolian independence was stipulated in the Sino-Soviet agreement of August 14, 1945. The Chinese government officially recognized Mongolian independence in January 1946.[13] In 1949, the Communists won the Chinese Civil War and maintained the policy of recognizing Mongolia's independent status.

Cold War

Yumjaagiyn Tsedenbal
in Beijing in 1952

The People's Republic of China established

Kim Il sung while on a state visit to Pyongyang in November 1986 states that "renewing the development of China-Mongolian relations is important for our two countries’ people's common interest".[16] In 1986, a series of agreements to bolster trade and establish transport and air links was signed.[15] In 1988, both nations signed a treaty on border control.[17] Mongolia also started a more independent policy and pursued more friendly ties with China.[15]

Recent period

Countries which signed cooperation documents related to the Belt and Road Initiative

In the post-

Asia Pacific region.[18] China also expanded its investments in Mongolia's mining industries, giving it access to the country's natural resources.[18][19]

Mongolia participates in the Belt and Road Initiative.[20] The BRI has been an important factor in the growing Mongolian view that China is an economic partner rather than a threat to its territorial integrity.[21]: 208  Mongolia cooperates in the development of the China-Mongolia-Russia Economic Corridor, one of the six major land corridors of the BRI.[22]: 39  In January 2024, Mongolia stated that it seeks to institute a summit where the three countries can further develop economic opportunities, including the corridor.[23]

In January 2024, Mongolian Prime Minister Luvsannamsrai Oyun-Erdene described relations between Mongolia and China as at their highest level and described the two countries as working towards a comprehensive strategic partnership.[23]

The Gashuunsukhait–Gantsmod railway is a 19.5 km cross-border extension of the existing Sino-Mongolian rail network, first proposed in 2009. In May 2025, Mongolia’s parliament ratified a strategic partnership with China to construct the link, work formally beginning on 14 May 2025, with the aim of eliminating the need for truck haulage across the border. Once operational, the new connection was expected to increase annual coal transport capacity by 30 million tonnes, facilitate the expansion of the Tavan Tolgoi coal mine, and, if later integrated with the Khangi–Mandal and Shiveekhüren–Sekhen crossings, could raise Mongolia’s total coal-export capacity to 120 million tonnes by 2030. Construction was set to be overseen by Mongolia’s state-owned Erdenes-Tavantolgoi JSC and China Energy.[24]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ The head of government of China is the Premier, while the President is legally a ceremonial office and has no real power in China's political system. However, the General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (top position) has always held this office since 1993 except for the months of transition, and the current paramount leader is Xi Jinping.

References

  1. ^ ""World Economic Outlook database: October 2024"". China Briefing News. 2024-01-18. Retrieved 2024-11-22.
  2. ^ "Report for Selected Countries and Subjects". IMF. Retrieved 2024-11-22.
  3. ^ ""World Economic Outlook database: October 2024"". www.macrotrends.net. Retrieved 2024-11-22.
  4. ^ "World Economic Outlook database: October 2024". www.worldometers.info. Retrieved 2024-11-22.
  5. ^ "China | Data Futures Exchange". data.undp.org. Retrieved 2024-11-22.
  6. ^ "Mongolia 2023 IFRC network country plan (MAAMN001) - Mongolia | ReliefWeb". reliefweb.int. 2023-01-17. Retrieved 2024-11-22.
  7. ^ Kristensen, Hans; Norris, Robert (November 2018). "Status of World Nuclear Forces". Federation of American Scientists. Archived from the original on 18 June 2015. Retrieved 25 July 2019.
  8. ^ "Mongolia's National Revolution of 1911 and the last emperor of Mongolia – VIII Bogdo Jetsundamba Khutukhtu" (PDF).
  9. ISBN 9780742578159
    .
  10. ISBN 9789629373214
    .
  11. ISBN 9789629372910
    .
  12. ISBN 978-5-87317-692-2
  13. ^ "China/Mongolia (1911-1946)". University of Central Arkansas. Department of Government, Public Service, and International Studies. Retrieved 2024-02-14. On August 14, 1945, the Chinese government agreed to recognize the independence of Mongolia if Mongolians approved of independence from China in a referendum. Mongolians voted overwhelmingly for independence in a referendum held on October 20, 1945. The government of the Republic of China formally recognized the independence of Mongolia on January 5, 1946.
  14. ^ "China-Mongolia Boundary" (PDF). International Boundary Study (173). The Geographer, Bureau of Intelligence and Research: 2–6. August 1984. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2006-09-16. Retrieved 2008-06-16.
  15. ^ a b c "Mongolia-China relations". Library of Congress. Archived from the original on 2017-08-01. Retrieved 2008-06-15.
  16. ^ "Wilson Center Digital Archive".
  17. ISBN 978-1-5036-3415-2
    .
  18. ^ a b c ""Pan-Mongolism" and U.S.-China-Mongolia relations". Jamestown Foundation. 2005-06-29. Archived from the original on 2015-12-27. Retrieved 2013-04-07.
  19. ^ a b "China breathes new life into Mongolia". Asia Times. 2007-09-12. Archived from the original on 2007-10-11. Retrieved 2008-06-16.
  20. ^ Graceffo, Antonio (15 July 2020). "Mongolia and the Belt and Road Initiative: The Prospects for the China-Mongolia-Russia Economic Corridor". Jamestown Foundation. Retrieved 2020-07-16.
  21. ISBN 978-1-03-239508-1
    .
  22. ISBN 9780300266900
    .
  23. ^ a b "Between China and Russia, landlocked Mongolia eyes summit to enhance ties as geopolitical pressures mount". Yahoo Finance. 2024-01-24. Retrieved 2024-04-19.
  24. ^ Stutt, Amanda (2025-05-16). "Mongolia-China railway extension to increase coal transport capacity by 30Mt". MINING.COM. Retrieved 2025-05-19.

Further reading

Library resources about
China–Mongolia relations
  • Ginsburg, Tom. "Political reform in Mongolia: between Russia and China." Asian Survey 35.5 (1995): 459–471.
  • Paine, Sarah CM. Imperial rivals: China, Russia, and their disputed frontier (ME Sharpe, 1996).
  • Perdue, Peter C. "Military Mobilization in Seventeenth and Eighteenth-Century China, Russia, and Mongolia." Modern Asian Studies 30.4 (1996): 757–793.
  • Perdue, Peter C. "Boundaries, maps, and movement: Chinese, Russian, and Mongolian empires in early modern Central Eurasia." International History Review 20.2 (1998): 263–286.
  • Reeves, Jeffrey. "Rethinking weak state behavior: Mongolia’s foreign policy toward China." International Politics 51.2 (2014): 254–271.
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