China to increase transit transportation through Mongolia

The ‘Transit Mongolia-2017’ road and transportation forum is taking place in Beijing from 6^th to 7^th of April. The event is being organised by the Ministry of Road and Transport of Mongolia in cooperation with Ulaanbaatar Railways JVC. 

During the forum, B.Tsoggerel, Deputy Minister of Road and Transport discussed cooperation issues with Lu Dongfu, Vice-Minister of the Ministry of Transport of China and Director of the State Railways Administration. The two sides discussed increasing the capacity of freight handling between Erlian (also known as Ereen or Erenhot) on the Chinese side of the border with Mongolia and China's major northern port of Tianjin, transportation to Mongolia and reducing tariffs.

Beijing’s plan for developing railway transport between China and Europe in 2016-2020 has determined Mongolia's role as the main transit route. A total of 167 freight trains passed through Mongolia in 2016; this represents a two-fold increase on the previous year.