Premier Li: China aims to strengthen traditional friendship, cooperation with Thailand

Chinese Premier Li Qiang said on Thursday that China is ready to work with Thailand to use next year's 50th anniversary of diplomatic ties as an opportunity to further strengthen their traditional friendship, enhance strategic communication, promote cooperation, and advance the building of a China-Thailand community with a shared future.

Li made the remarks during his meeting with Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra on the sidelines of the leaders' meetings on East Asia cooperation held in Vientiane.

China and Thailand are close friends and neighbors linked by mountains and rivers, Li noted. He emphasized that under the strategic guidance of the leaders of both countries, the construction of the China-Thailand community with a shared future has continued to progress, resulting in fruitful cooperation across various fields and increasingly vibrant people-to-people exchanges.

The concept of "China and Thailand as one family" has gained greater popularity, he added.

Li expressed his expectation that China-Thailand relations will become even closer, bringing more benefits to the people of both countries.

He pointed out that China firmly supports Thailand in pursuing a development path suited to its national conditions and is willing to always be Thailand's trustworthy and reliable partner.

Li stated that the Chinese side is ready to work with Thailand to better align their development strategies, actively communicate on policies, accelerate the construction of the China-Thailand railway, promote industrial integration and development, and deepen cooperation in areas such as industrial parks, the digital economy, new energy vehicles and photovoltaics, to better support the transformation and upgrading of their respective economies.

The Chinese premier also called for the two sides to jointly host activities to celebrate the 50th anniversary of diplomatic ties next year and strengthen exchanges in media, culture, tourism, education and youth to consolidate public support for friendship between the two countries.

China, Li said, is ready to work with Thailand to implement the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership agreement in a high-quality manner, accelerate regional economic integration, strengthen multilateral coordination and cooperation, and jointly safeguard peaceful and stable development in the region.

Noting that next year marks the 50th anniversary of diplomatic ties between Thailand and China, Paetongtarn said Thailand is willing to jointly hold a series of celebrations with China, further strengthen high-level exchanges, promote mutually beneficial cooperation in the economy, trade, agriculture and other fields, deepen cultural and people-to-people exchanges, and jointly crack down on transnational crimes such as online gambling and telephone fraud, in a bid to continually advance the building of a Thailand-China community with a shared future.

Thailand, she said, is also willing to strengthen communication and coordination with China within ASEAN, Lancang-Mekong Cooperation and other multilateral frameworks, jointly promote trade and investment liberalization and facilitation, and safeguard regional peace, stability and prosperity.