From the 1960s to the mid-1980s, the Sino-Soviet split translated into poor, if any, diplomatic and economic relations between China and Mongolia. Political changes in both countries in the late 1980s and 1990 have resulted in more harmonious relations. China is currently the largest importer of Mongolian products, and more Mongolians are studying in China. This presentation discusses the transformations and speculates about the future of Sino-Mongolian relations.

Hosted by the Lau China Institute in collaboration with the Mongolia and Inner Asia Studies Unit, University of Cambridge.

About the speaker

Professor Rossabi is a historian of China and Central and Inner Asia. He teaches courses on Inner Asian, East Asian, and Chinese history at Columbia. During the 2008–2009 academic year, he received an honorary doctorate from the National University of Mongolia. He and Mary Rossabi are involved in an oral history of 20th and 21st century Mongolia, which has led to the publication of Socialist Devotees and Dissenters; A Herder, a Trader, and a Lawyer; and The Practice of Buddhism in Kharkhorin and its Revival (National Museum of Ethnology, Osaka, 2010, 2012, and 2013). In 2021, the Minister of Foreign Affairs awarded Professor Rossabi a Certificate of Merit at the Mongolian Embassy to the United Nations.