BANGKOK, Nov. 15 (Xinhua) -- During his official visit to Thailand from Friday to Sunday, Chinese Premier Li Qiang urged both countries to seize opportunities in trade and economic cooperation to elevate bilateral relations to higher levels.
With Li's visit to Thailand, the prime ministers of the two countries have exchanged visits within four months, fully demonstrating the high level of bilateral relations.
Under the strategic guidance of the two heads of state, bilateral ties have gained fresh momentum as the two sides seek to further translate their longstanding friendship into more tangible economic benefits.
The close bond between China and Thailand, often described as "China and Thailand are as close as one family," is a unique advantage of bilateral relations, providing stability brought by high-level mutual trust and friendship.
Close and regular communication between the leaders of the two countries, along with strong people-to-people ties and cultural affinity, has provided businesses in both countries with a stable and predictable environment for expanding investment and making long-term plans, Li said when attending a symposium with Chinese and Thai entrepreneurs.
Such stability is underpinned by institutional cooperation, including mechanisms such as the "2+2" strategic dialogue between foreign and defense ministers and the joint committee on economic and trade cooperation, which help the two countries to further tap cooperation potential in various fields and deliver more tangible results to better benefit the two peoples.
Beyond government-level exchanges, exchanges and cooperation in areas such as culture, youth affairs, education and local affairs, have also enhanced mutual understanding and friendship between the two peoples, and strengthened the public foundation of bilateral friendship.
Thai Minister of Culture Sabeeda Thaised has described Thailand-China relations as extending far beyond diplomacy into daily traditions, family devotion and shared values, reflecting five decades of formal bilateral relations.
Economic figures further illustrate the resilience of bilateral cooperation. China has remained Thailand's largest trading partner for 13 consecutive years, while Thailand is an important trading partner of China within ASEAN countries. Bilateral trade surpassed 153 billion U.S. dollars in 2025, up 14.4 percent year on year.
Data released by the Thai Ministry of Commerce in August also showed that China remained Thailand's largest free trade agreement partner in the first half of 2026.
The continued growth of economic and trade cooperation despite headwinds is particularly commendable amid the current turbulent international situation, Li noted.
Growing connectivity and flourishing innovation cooperation are generating aggregation and empowering effects, driving practical cooperation between the two countries to new heights.
At the symposium, the Chinese premier highlighted the steady progress in the construction of the China-Thailand railway, the official opening of China's Pinglu Canal, and the strengthening "soft connectivity" in areas such as trade rules, standards and finance, which facilitated more seamless interaction of the two markets, enabling more enterprises to generate greater economic benefits.
During his talks with Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul, Li called for the alignment of development strategies and accelerating consultations on a new five-year plan for economic and trade cooperation.
During his three-day visit, Li urged the two sides to expand cooperation in investment, finance, new energy, semiconductors and artificial intelligence, encouraging Chinese and Thai enterprises to pursue cooperation in high-tech, emerging and cutting-edge fields including electronic information, clean energy and biomedicine to jointly foster and strengthen new business models and new growth drivers.
According to Viboon Supakarapongkul, vice chairman of the Thai Chamber of Commerce, Chinese investment inflows into Thailand have accelerated significantly over the past few years, underpinned by deep-rooted cultural and trade ties, robust local supply chains, technology and advanced manufacturing, as well as strong bilateral communication that helps investors navigate the regional market.
In his talks with Sophon Zaram, president of Thailand's National Assembly and speaker of the House of Representatives, Li called for stronger collaborative innovation and joint efforts to promote industrial upgrading.
At the business symposium, Li urged enterprises to upgrade cooperation from "production collaboration" to "industrial synergy," enhance complementarity and integration in industrial and supply chains, and promote the alignment and mutual recognition of industry standards, to jointly improve competitiveness through more efficient coordination and move up the global value chain.
Thailand and China have a solid foundation for cooperation, with the digital economy offering an important avenue for an even closer partnership, said Soontaree Songserm, senior executive vice president of the Big Data Institute in Thailand.
Songserm expressed confidence that stronger links between governments, enterprises, universities, research institutions and technology sectors could translate cooperation into more tangible outcomes.
Looking ahead, China-Thailand relations and cooperation would extend beyond bilateral exchanges into "regional outreach."
By leveraging Thailand's geographic advantages, making good use of policy dividends such as the entry into force of the China-ASEAN Free Trade Area 3.0 Upgrade Protocol, the two countries could expand cooperation in third-party markets worldwide to better achieve win-win and multi-win outcomes, Li noted.
Against the backdrop of global uncertainties, the Chinese premier added that China is willing to strengthen coordination and cooperation with Thailand under multilateral frameworks, including China-ASEAN, the Lancang-Mekong Cooperation, the United Nations, the World Trade Organization and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation, making new contributions to regional stability, development and prosperity, as well as global peace and development. ■
