Mongolia would move house if it could
Mongolia still has a rapidly growing economy and an immense wealth of raw materials. However, its heavy dependence on China is creating tensions, as proven by the rise of neo-Nazi organisations fuelled by their hatred of Beijing.
Mongolia still has a rapidly growing economy and an immense wealth of raw materials. However, its heavy dependence on China is creating tensions, as proven by the rise of neo-Nazi organisations fuelled by their hatred of Beijing.
It is the third fastest growing economy in the world. In 2012 alone, Mongolia’s GDP rose by 12.3%, a brusque slowdown compared to the previous year’s +17.5% – and moreover caused by the collapse of international prices in the country’s agricultural and mineral products – but nonetheless a figure that, seen from a recession-strapped Europe, is nothing short of enviable. Commercial trade with China makes up 75% of the economy of Mongolia, which has no coastal access and is ensconced between the former Celestial Empire on one side and Russia on the other. This serene democracy, with a population of just over three million spread out across a massive territory twice the size of France, finds its proximity to the second strongest economic power in the world, China, particularly discomfiting, seeing as it is constantly seeking new suppliers to satisfy the tremendous energy and mineral requirements of its industries.
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