Visiting Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi and his Mongolian counterpart Nyamaa Enkhboldmet here Saturday for talks to boost bilateral relations.

Yang said Mongolia is an important neighbor of China and China will make joint efforts with Mongolia to shore up a bilateral good-neighborly partnership based on mutual trust.

He said China respects Mongolia's independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity.

Enkhbold said that Yang's choosing of Mongolia as the destination for his first foreign visit as foreign minister demonstrated the high importance the Chinese government attached to Mongolia-China relations.

Enkhbold said Mongolia would expand cooperation with China in such fields as trade, security, mining, infrastructure construction, culture and education.

The foreign minister stressed the Mongolian government's adherence to the one-China policy, saying Taiwan is an inalienable part of China. Enkhbold also said that Tibet is an inalienable part of China and Mongolia will not support any activity aimed at separating China.

The Chinese foreign minister arrived here Saturday to start a 3-day visit to Mongolia.