Batbayar Shurenchuluun, State Secretary of the Ministry of Environment and Climate, held a meeting with Cao Li, the Chargé d'Affaires of the Embassy of the People's Republic of China in Mongolia, and other relevant officials.

At the outset of the meeting, the State Secretary expressed gratitude to the PRC for providing a non-refundable financial grant of USD 1 million to support the organization of the 17th Conference of the Parties (COP17) to the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD).

Emphasizing the profound significance of COP17 in driving effective, collaborative efforts to combat desertification both in Mongolia and across the wider region, State Secretary Batbayar provided a brief update on the conference preparations. He noted that Mongolia will propose three major initiatives to the international community during the conference:

"Rangelands Flagship Initiative"

"Integrated Land and Water Management Initiative"

"Nature-Based Solutions for Sustainable Infrastructure"

The State Secretary requested China's active support and cooperation in advancing these three initiatives.

The two sides also discussed the development of a feasibility study for the "China-Mongolia Desertification Prevention and Control Cooperation Center," exploring how the center's construction and future operations will focus on mitigating environmental degradation and the impacts of climate change. The establishment of the center is planned in three phases; following successful first-phase negotiations, the parties exchanged views on the ongoing preparatory works and agreed to officially initiate Phase III.

Regarding human resource development and personnel training in the environmental sector, the parties highlighted a planned training program for executive-level officials titled "Mongolia-China Desertification Control and Monitoring Cooperation." The training will be organized by the China International Development Cooperation Agency (CIDCA) in Beijing in September 2026.

Moving forward, both sides agreed to continue implementing joint training and capacity-building programs tailored to their mutual environmental needs and strategic priorities.

Published Date:2026-08-12