The trade volume of the Inner Mongolia autonomous region with the countries of Mongolia and Russia amounted to nearly $6.0 billion in 2015, or six times that back in 2000, a clear reflection of closer ties among the three, the region reported recently.

According to Gai Zhiyi, an Inner Mongolia economist, "The legendary Grassland Silk Road continues to this day across the vast Inner Mongolian region, as cooperation and trade with Mongolia and Russia have expanded in recent years and will last for long time. And Russia and Mongolia are acknowledged worldwide as two of the most potential energy bases for the 21st century, especially for oil and gas."

The region covers 1.18 million square kilometers, reaching from China's Northeast to Its Northwest, and has a 4,261-kilometer border with Mongolia and Russia, or 19.4 percent of China's total land boundary.