Mongolia is a close neighbor to our north, and I remember the last time it was on the hot search because it sent 30,000 sheep to China. I have the impression that either a sandstorm blew into Beijing, or a grassland fire almost burned to China. What does Mongolia really look like now? In 2017, it owed 90% of its GDP, and it took almost a year to pay off the debt without food or drink. In order to help the country repay its debts, Mongolian citizens donated money, donated **, sold jewelry, cattle and horses, and donated coffins to the country. Relying on the $5.5 billion "bailout package" provided by China, the IMF and other institutions, we have finally temporarily survived this hurdle. 
Time passed, and seeing that the repayment date was approaching, Mongolia was still on the verge of bankruptcy. How do you pay it back? One is to sell cattle, sheep and horses, the second is to sell mines, and the third is to sell face. The Mongolian ** Battulega, who is close to the sixtieth year, is not only good at wrestling, but also a good "tightrope walker". Wandering between the two neighbors, China and Russia, with a hard tone and a soft posture, they want to make some extra money from it, but this wishful thinking is a bit difficult to achieve. Today we are going to talk about our neighbor on the verge of bankruptcy - Mongolia. According to Mongolia**, Mongolia's debt has reached 70% of GDP, and its external and private debt has reached three times that of GDP. But now ** is so poor that they are panicking, and they are beginning to owe the army's salaries. Why does the Mongolian parliament owe such a large amount of debt? This has to start with how Mongolia makes money. Mongolia has two treasures to make money: grazing and mining. Let's talk about herding first, the Mongolian nation is known as the "nation on horseback", Genghis Khan conquered most of the world on horseback, to this day, there are still many people in Mongolia still live in the traditional yurt, to herd cattle, horses, sheep, camels during the day, and from time to time to ride a horse to the city for a walk. Animal husbandry has developed to the point where animal diplomacy can even be practiced. 
In 2020, Mongolia** Battulega gave 30,000 sheep to China. Someone has calculated that these 30,000 sheep have more than 900,000 kilograms, which can be made into 48750,000 plates of mutton shabu, Mongolia's success is on fire. The reason why animal husbandry is developed is, in the final analysis, dependent on God's reward for food. Mongolia covers an area of 1.56 million square kilometers, of which 1.24 million square kilometers are vast grasslands, which can be said to be a paradise for cattle, sheep, horses, camels and other herbivores. With a population of 3.4 million people, the average of men, women and children own close to 22 animals. Among them, sheep and goats are the most, with nearly 19 per capita. Therefore, there is never a shortage of meat on the table, roast lamb shank, beef skewers, and mare's milk vodka are made casually. In 2019, agriculture and animal husbandry contributed 11% of Mongolia's GDP, and exporting raw materials and manufactured products for animal fur is a major foreign exchange earning for Mongolia. It is said that God appreciates food and eats, and in addition to the vast grassland, it also gives Mongolia a lot of mines. Anyway, there are basically those common ones in the periodic table. The country has more than 800 mining areas, more than 8, 000 mining sites, coal mines, iron, copper, lead, oil, everything. However, it is a pity that Mongolia's industry is very deformed, more bluntly, a "miner", who is only responsible for mining and selling raw materials.
Since the independence of modern times, except for open-pit mining, there is no domestic metallurgy, machinery industry and petroleum industry, and it has to rely on foreign aid and imports from the Soviet Union to maintain the economic operation of the whole country. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, he also followed a wave of Western "shock **" and fell into a problem, which is really "the old birthday star is long-lived". It is estimated that Mongolia's per capita national income regressed by at least 15 years in the four years from 1992 to 1995. In order to save the economy, the most direct way to get money is to sell mines. In 1997, Mongolia promulgated the Law on Mineral Resources, which allows you to apply for a mineral certificate in Mongolia regardless of your nationality, which can also be transferred and mortgaged. Subsequently, a large amount of capital entered the market, including many Chinese companies. The mine has to be sold, where is the buyer? Isn't the world's factory right next door? So Mongolia hitched a ride on China's take-off. 
From 2004 to 2007, Mongolia's GDP grew by an average of 86%, and in 2011 there was even a staggering 17%. Mining has become the backbone of Mongolia, accounting for nearly 30% of GDP and supporting more than 80% of foreign exports. Mongolia feels like it's doing it again. At this stage, although Mongolia had a little money in its pocket, it did not think about looking for new economic growth points, but lay on the mines and counted the money.
Once a person is inflated, it is difficult to recognize reality. Mongolian populists, who think they are the masters, have begun to point fingers at foreign capital, so why should they let others dig their own mines? Therefore, in 2012, Mongolia directly canceled a large number of preferential policies for foreign investment through the investment law, and although it was changed the following year, it still scared away a large number of funders. By the first quarter of 2015, Mongolia's foreign direct investment (FDI) was up to 85%, just as the global coal industry entered a cold winter, and Mongolia was hit hard. Between 2012 and 2016, the Mongolian currency depreciated by 50% and the national economy was on the verge of collapse.
How sad is it? In the first half of 2016, more than 60,000 of Mongolia's 130,000 registered businesses had ceased operations or ceased production. Even more than 2, 000 boxers, wrestlers and other national team players are owed $980,000 in salaries and bonuses. What should I do if I can't open the pot? I can only borrow money. In 2012-2013, Mongolia issued Genghis Khan bonds and samurai bonds, and finally raised nearly 2 billion US dollars, and then in 2017, after many mediations (in fact, after begging grandpa to tell grandma), it finally obtained a long-term low-interest loan of 5.5 billion US dollars in the world, of which China contributed 2.2 billion US dollars, and the borrowed money must be repaid.
Geographically, Mongolia shares a full border with Russia and China. Since its independence in modern times, Mongolia first relied on the Soviet Union, and then the Soviet Union collapsed, and then wanted to rely on Russia, but Russia had no money or time to deal with it, so it tried to move closer to the West. The current situation is that Mongolia has to rely on China as a big financier economically, but it does not want to get too close to us, and it has long pursued the policy of "third neighbor", becoming a Western ally, a NATO military partner, and even following the US military to Afghanistan and Iraq, but did not dare to enter the city of Baghdad, probably for fear that the Iraqis will recall the deeds of Genghis Khan's descendants who slaughtered 800,000 people in Baghdad, but as the old saying goes, far water cannot save near fire. Mongolia still has to rely on two neighboring countries, especially China, for its development, after all, 90% of Mongolia's products are sold to China.
In recent years, Mongolia has also wanted to rely on its two neighbors, China and Russia, to earn some extra money, collect tolls and export clean energy. The first is the collection of tolls, and since the 90s of the last century, China has been discussing with Russia the construction of a gas pipeline to deliver gas to our country. The project is divided into the eastern route and the western route, and the eastern route runs from the Russian Far East to Northeast China. Now the northern and middle sections have been ventilated, and the western route has not yet started, there are many options, such as direct access to China and Russia, or through Kazakhstan, or through Mongolia, Mongolia is particularly active at this time, in order to earn this toll, in 2012 with Russia to blow the wind in the ear, saying that it is more cost-effective to pass through Mongolia, the pipeline can be shortened by 1, 000 kilometers, and the cost can be saved.
But at that time Russia did not bird him, and Mongolia was not happy. In 2014, Mongolia announced the construction of three hydropower plants on the Serengge River and its tributaries. It is not simple, he provides 30% of the water source to Lake Baikal, and Mongolia does this, which is equivalent to cutting off the water of Baikal. The Baikal system and ecosystem may be running out, so Russia and Mongolia began negotiations, and the two sides talked about the signing of a memorandum of understanding between Russia and Mongolia in 2019 on the transit of the China-Russia Western Route gas pipeline through Mongolia, which can be regarded as a solution to Russia. Then, during the new crown epidemic in early 2020, Mongolia's ** Battulga visited China and gave China the 30,000 sheep, which shows that it is well-intentioned, after all, if China does not nod this plan, it will be in vain. Once it's finalized, it's really fragrant to lie down and collect rent.
In addition to collecting tolls, Mongolia is also playing with the idea of clean energy. Mongolia used to hold the thighs of traditional energy coal, but after all, coal will always be dug up, and Mongolia's topography is very suitable for the development of renewable energy. The World Renewable Energy Association has estimated that Mongolia's total renewable energy, including solar, wind and hydro, is 2About 6 terawatts, just using wind and solar power to generate electricity can meet the electricity demand of the whole of China in 2030, and Mongolia has swelled again.
Mongolia** often mentions the Northeast Asia super grid plan, hoping to interconnect with the power grids of neighboring countries and transmit Mongolia's renewable energy power to Russia, China, Japan, South Korea and other countries. But to be honest, let alone transmitting electricity to other countries, Mongolia's own electricity is not enough, and many of the generator sets are still built during the Soviet era, which is very old, and about 18% of the electricity has to be imported from China and Russia. If you take 10,000 steps back, even if you can export, how to build a power grid is a big problem, because you can't avoid the oil bottle of backward transportation. If you want to transport it by water, although Mongolia has as many as 7 navies, it is not at all close to the sea. To be transported by air, there is only one international airport in China, and the smoke from the plane cannot be loaded. To be transported by land, only about 1 5 of the roads are asphalt roads, there are only two railways, and the rails are too wide to dock with China, and the transit has to queue up to change carriages, which is very worrying about the cost and efficiency. In fact, to be honest, the conditions of Mongolia itself are really not bad, the first is the vast land, rich resources, the second is the sparse population, the porridge is more than the monks, and the third is backed by a large country, the market is huge. But I want to take advantage of everything, but I don't get anything.
Finally, looking at the report card in 2023, Mongolia's GDP is 1 19 of the GDP of China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region (roughly equivalent to Bayannur City or a county in the eastern region). Now he still owes a huge debt and is on the verge of bankruptcy. In general, if Mongolia wants to develop, it is not possible to flutter on its own, and it must rely on the support of major powers. How will Mongolia position itself and how will it rise? This question is still left to Mongolia for the new **.
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