A member of the Mongolian government delegation that recently visited Beijing said Mongolia has agreed to establish a working group with China to oversee the construction of new roads, rail and pipeline infrastructure connecting the two countries with Russia.

The topic was high on the agenda for talks between Mongolian Prime Minister Norov Altanhayag and his Chinese counterpart, Li Keqiang, last week, according to the official, who is a senior adviser to Mongolia's economics ministry.

Mongolia hopes improved infrastructure will allow it to generate more revenue from its coal sector. A rail link to the Russian Far East is under construction and half of a direct rail line into China has been completed, with the project scheduled to be finished by 2015.

The official said that Mongolia's state-owned railway operator signed a memorandum of understanding last week with China's biggest coal producer, the Shenhua Group, on building cross-border railways to help deliver coal. Shenhua was not immediately available to comment on the matter.