Chinese President Xi Jinping (second left) and wife Peng Liyuan (second right) are welcome by Mongolian Prime Minister Norov Altankhuyag and his wife at the airport in Ulan Bator August 21, 2014. [Photo/Xinhua]

ULAN BATOR - Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived in Ulan Bator Thursday for a two-day state visit to Mongolia.

President Xi visits Mongolia

It was the first visit in 11 years by China's head of state to Mongolia, and also the second time for Xi to make a one-stop trip to a foreign country since he took office in March 2013.

Xi and his wife Peng Liyuan were greeted by Mongolian Prime Minister Norov Altankhuyag and his wife at the airport in Ulan Bator.

Xi said China and Mongolia are close neighbors who are linked by mountains and rivers and boast profound friendship.

"I believe my visit will be a trip of friendship, cooperation and development that bears the anticipations of both peoples," he added.

The Chinese president said his trip to Mongolia is like "visiting relatives" and he is very delighted and full of expectations.

"I hope to take this visit as an important opportunity to elevate the bilateral relations to a new height," he said.

Friendship and cooperation has been the theme of China-Mongolia relations since the two countries established diplomatic ties 65 years ago, Xi noted.

"The constant deepening of strategic mutual trust, the growing converging points of our interests, and the increasingly closer sentiments between the two nations are valuable assets accumulated jointly by the two peoples," Xi said.

China and Mongolia, which share a borderline of more than 4,700 km long, should be good neighbors in action and friendly neighbors in emotion, in addition to being close neighbors geographically, he added.

The Chinese people are striving for the Chinese Dream of national rejuvenation, and the Mongolian people are also forging ahead in their path of reform and development, Xi said.