ULAN BATOR, Aug. 21 -- China and Mongolia are seeking to build stronger economic links by boosting trade, expanding practical cooperation, and facilitating cargo transportation for landlocked Mongolia.

The two countries will strive to lift bilateral trade to 10 billion U.S. dollars by 2020, according to a joint declaration signed here Thursday during Chinese President Xi Jinping's state visit to Mongolia.

China has been Mongolia's largest trading partner and largest source of foreign investment over the past 10-plus years. Two-way trade stood at 324 million dollars in 2002, but soared to nearly 6 billion dollars in 2013.

In order to further promote bilateral trade, the two countries pledged to, among others, carry out more facilitation measures and hold a series of bilateral or multilateral trade expos.

The two sides also agreed to increase the proportion of high value-added products in their trade.

China, said the declaration, will allow Mongolia to use its northern and northeastern seaports that are open to foreign vessels, which will facilitate goods transportation and exports for the landlocked Central Asian country.

Meanwhile, the two countries vowed to enhance cooperation in rail and air transportation and speed up infrastructure construction for their border ports.

According to the document, China and Mongolia will continue to carry out all-round mutually beneficial cooperation in mining, infrastructure construction and finance.

The two countries also agreed to increase the scale of currency swap, support the use of local currencies in trade settlement, and strengthen cooperation in commercial loans and project financing.

China and Mongolia, the declaration said, will enlarge the scope and improve the quality of their practical cooperation through a string of major infrastructure and mining cooperation projects.

Businesses from the two countries are encouraged to carry out reciprocal cooperation.

In addition, the two countries are studying issues related to the construction of coal mine pithead power plants in Mongolia and Mongolia's electricity exports to China, according to the declaration.