Editor's note: Song Qingrun is an associate professor & PhD at the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations. The article reflects the author's opinion, and not necessarily the views of CGTN.

Chinese and Thais are like "brothers". Traditionally, Thailand is China's friendly neighbor and an important cooperation partner under the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). During November 3-5, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang will attend the 22nd China-ASEAN (10+1) leaders' meeting, the 22nd ASEAN-China, Japan and Republic of Korea (10+3) leaders' meeting and the 14th East Asia Summit (EAS) in the Thai capital Bangkok and pay an official visit to Thailand.

This visit is Premier Li's second official visit to Thailand in six years. It is of great significance to further enhance the traditional friendship between China and Thailand, deepen mutually beneficial cooperation and promote greater development of bilateral relations.

Thailand is an important country in Southeast Asia, which is the second largest economy in Southeast Asia and China's third largest trading partner among ASEAN countries. High-level interaction between China and Thailand is intensive, and the two countries' people have close contacts. 

China and Thailand have cooperated well in the BRI projects. Thailand has recently paid much attention to establishing the Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC). Its Eastern Economic Corridor Development Plan is offering new opportunities to promote bilateral cooperation.

It focuses on infrastructure development, such as U-Tapao Airport, the High Speed Train and Map Ta Phut Port. Chinese enterprises can provide capital, rich experiences, high-end equipment, excellent experts, and other advantages compared to many other foreign companies. Enterprises from both sides could cooperate well to boost the building of EEC on infrastructure constructions.

Thailand and China have similar development plans. The two countries have many cooperation opportunities in many fields, such as technological innovation, capacity docking, digital economy, electronic commerce, environmental protection,

Sino-Thailand relations are at the forefront of China-ASEAN relations and have played an exemplary and leading role. The two countries have achieved a lot in their current cooperation. China is Thailand's largest trading partner and largest source of foreign tourists. Thailand also plays an important role in the ASEAN. 

In late October, 2019, companies from the two countries have officially signed a contract to build a high-speed railway from Bangkok to the special economic zones in eastern Thailand.

At the same time, cooperation between China and Thailand also faces some challenges. For example, the progress of some large-scale cooperation projects is not satisfactory, and the appreciation of the Thai baht and other factors have led to a decrease in the number of Chinese tourists to Thailand. However, these minor issues will not affect the overall situation of China-Thailand full cooperation.

According to the Chinese Foreign Ministry, during Premier Li's visit, the two sides will exchange views on promoting the high-quality development of the BRI and strengthening cooperation in trade and investment, infrastructure, connectivity and other fields. Premier Li's visit will effectively promote the comprehensive cooperation between the two countries and push the development of Sino-Thai economic and trade relations to a new level.

Thailand holds the rotating chairmanship of ASEAN. During the East Asia Summit and other series of summits held in Thailand, China is working with Thailand and other ASEAN member states to jointly build the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road and a closer China-ASEAN community with a shared future. Also, China, Thailand and other ASEAN countries have jointly promoted regional cooperation and multilateral trade mechanisms such as RCEP (Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership) to promote regional and global economic growth.

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