Chinese National Defense Minister Liang Guanglie met with his Mongolian counterpart Bold Luvsanvandan in Beijing Tuesday, both pledging to enhance military ties between the two nations.

Liang said China attaches great importance to boosting Sino-Mongolian relations and is ready to work with Mongolia to push forward relations between the two countries and military-to-military ties so as to contribute to regional and global peace and development.

He hailed the expanded bilateral military exchange and cooperation between the two sides in recent years.

Bold, who stopped over in Beijing Monday evening, said Mongolia is ready to make joint efforts with China to further ties.

Mongolia and China established diplomatic ties on Oct. 16, 1949. Bilateral trade rose to 2.44 billion U.S. dollars in 2008 from 243 million dollars in 1998. After experiencing a decline in 2009 due to the global financial crisis, trade is picking up again this year.