Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha Meets with Wang Yi

On July 5, 2022 local time, Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha met with Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi, who was paying an official visit to Thailand upon invitation, in Bangkok.

Prayuth asked Wang Yi to convey his sincere greetings to Chinese leaders, and thanked the Chinese side for inviting the Thai side to attend the High-level Dialogue on Global Development. He said, Thailand attaches great importance to the Global Development Initiative (GDI) and the Global Security Initiative put forward by President Xi Jinping, admires the great achievements made by China in poverty alleviation, and looks forward to learning from China's development experience, grasping the trend of the times, and seizing historical opportunities, so as to promote all-round cooperation between Thailand and China.

Wang Yi conveyed Chinese leaders' cordial greetings to the Thai side, saying that the Communist Party of China has rallied and led the Chinese people in winning the battle against poverty. China has eradicated absolute poverty and is embarking on a new journey towards common prosperity. China appreciates Thailand's active participation in the GDI, and stands ready to strengthen experience-sharing on state governance between the two sides.

Wang Yi said, China-Thailand relations have maintained sound and stable development in a turbulent and changing world. That benefits from the strategic guidance of the leaders of the two countries, the traditional China-Thailand friendship that is close like a family, and the solid political mutual trust established by both sides. This year marks the 10th anniversary of the establishment of the comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership between China and Thailand. The two sides agreed to carry forward friendship, expand cooperation, plan for the future, set jointly building the China-Thailand community with a shared future as a goal and vision, enrich the connotations of "China and Thailand are close like a family" in the new era, and open up a more stable, prosperous and sustainable future for the two countries. The two sides can also forge a China-Laos-Thailand railway running through the north and south and connecting Europe and Asia. We can smooth the flow of goods with convenient channels, promote economy and trade with better logistics, and boost the growth of industries with robust economy and trade. More cold-chain freight train services, tourism and durian express could be launched to make cross-border transportation more convenient, less costly, and more efficient. By so doing, we will realize "goods going north and tourists going south".

Prayuth said, Thailand and China enjoy time-honored friendship and fruitful pragmatic cooperation. It is of great significance for the two countries to reach a consensus on jointly building a community with a shared future, and Thailand is ready to join hands with China to this end. The Thai side looks forward to seeking greater synergy between the "Thailand 4.0" development strategy and the Belt and Road Initiative, carrying out tripartite cooperation based on the Thailand-China-Laos Railway, and unleashing the full potential of the border-crossing railway.

The two sides also exchanged views on this year's Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Economic Leaders' Meeting. Wang Yi said, China fully supports Thailand in playing an important role as the host, leading the meeting to focus on the Asia-Pacific, development and the building of a Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific, so as to reinvigorate the APEC's vision in Thailand and inject new and strong impetus into the process of regional integration.

Prayuth thanked China for its support, saying that the Thai people often say "Everything goes well if we work together with one heart", and Thailand is full of confidence in running the meeting well. Wang Yi said, as a Chinese saying goes, "If brothers are of the same mind, their sharpness can cut through metal", China is ready to work with Thailand to push for positive outcomes of the meeting.

On the same day, Wang Yi also held talks with Thai Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Don Pramudwinai and reached a series of important consensus on deepening the China-Thailand comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership.