Xi congratulates Mongolia's president on his election

President Xi Jinping congratulated Ukhnaa Khurelsukh on Friday on his election as Mongolia's president, saying that he stands ready to work with Khurelsukh to promote bilateral ties.

In a congratulatory message to the new Mongolian president, Xi said China and Mongolia are friendly neighbors sharing common mountains and rivers, as well as sincere cooperative partners. They enjoy good momentum in the development of bilateral relations, he added.

Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Chinese and Mongolian governments and people have supported each other and joined hands in the fight against the virus, achieving positive results, Xi said.

Noting that he considers relations with Mongolia to be of great importance, Xi said he stands ready to work along with Khurelsukh to guide the comprehensive strategic partnership between the two countries to consistently make new progress.

Khurelsukh, from the ruling Mongolian People's Party, beat the other two presidential candidates, Sodnomzundui Erdene, former chairman of the opposition Democratic Party, and Dangaasuren Enkhbat, a former legislator who was a candidate from the political alliance the Right Person Electorate Coalition, and won the presidential election on Wednesday.

"A total of 1,216,246 people cast their votes in the election, or 59.35 percent of all eligible voters. The candidate from the MPP, Khurelsukh, obtained 67.76 percent of the votes," Purevee Delgernaran, head of the country's General Election Commission, said at a news conference on Thursday.

The presidential election took place amid fears over the COVID-19 pandemic. In recent days, more than 1,000 new COVID-19 cases have been reported daily in the country, mostly in the capital Ulan Bator, which is home to over half of the country's population of 3.3 million.

Mongolia, with a population of around 3.3 million, has held eight presidential elections since 1993. Among them, the first presidential election had the highest voter turnout at 92.7 percent, while this year's election had the lowest voter turnout rate.

However, Khurelsukh won the highest percentage of votes in the history of the country's presidential elections.

Xinhua contributed to the story.