Initially, in 2009, the Ministry of Road, Transport, Construction and Urban Development of Mongolia and Tianjin Municipal People's Government established a memorandum on China leasing 10 hectares of land of Dongjiang Free Trade Port Zone in Tianjin to Mongolia for 50 years on very soft terms to support Mongolia’s access to sea. Then in May 2018, the memorandum was re-established as the Mongolian Minister of Road and Transport Development, Chinese Transport Minister, and Head of the Tianjin Municipal People's Government agreed that the document has to be enriched, revised, and aligned with the ‘Steppe Road’ and ’Development Road’ programs of Mongolia and ‘Belt and Road’ initiative of China.

The sides also decided to build a transport and logistics center on the aforementioned 10 ha of land and the construction work will begin in July. Thus, the project, which has been stalled over a decade, is now moving forward and it will play a key role for Mongolia in having access to sea and further making its way to third markets through seaports.