Permanent Secretary for Foreign Affairs co-chaired Thailand - China Strategic Dialogue
On July 25 Sarun Charoensuwan, Permanent Secretary for Foreign Affairs co-chaired the 6th Thailand - China Strategic Dialogue with Nong Rong, Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China, at the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Beijing.
Both sides concurred to deepen cooperation in both bilateral and multilateral frameworks, towards building a Thailand - China community with a shared future for enhanced stability, prosperity and sustainability, as agreed upon by General Prayut Chan-o-cha, Prime Minister of Thailand, and Xi Jinping, President of the People’s Republic of China, during the latter’s visit to Thailand in November 2022.
At the meeting, both sides noted the positive momentum in Thailand - China relations, as well as progress in their cooperation in line with the 4th Joint Action Plan on Thailand - China Strategic Cooperation (2022 - 2026). They stressed the importance of maintaining regular discussions and visits between high-level officials.
With regards to economic cooperation, they agreed to further promote and facilitate increased trade and investment, including inbound investment from China in Thailand’s targeted industries, such as electric vehicles (EV) and batteries, semiconductors and Bio-Circular-Green (BCG) related industries. They also encouraged more efforts to advance Thailand - Laos - China Connectivity Development Corridor Outlook. In addition, both sides discussed cooperation on science, technology and innovation, as well as cooperation on tourism and education to further deepen people-to-people ties and understanding.
On security cooperation, both sides agreed to strengthen their collaboration on law enforcement and combating transnational crimes, particularly along the border areas. These included activities such as online gambling, call centre scam operations, and human trafficking, which have increasingly affected people in Thailand, China and beyond.
Furthermore, both sides also agreed to continue working closely in multilateral frameworks, in particular the Mekong - Lancang Cooperation (MLC), of which Thailand will assume the co-chairmanship with China after Myanmar, as well as Asean - China. Both sides also exchanged views on recent regional and international developments.
In the afternoon of the same day, Saran paid a courtesy call to Li Mingxiang, Vice Minister of the International Department of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and discussed ways to enhance Thailand - China relations and exchanges between political parties.
The Thailand - China Strategic Dialogue is the highest bilateral mechanism between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the two countries, which aims to review and discuss ways to strengthen comprehensive cooperation between Thailand and China. Both sides take turns to host the meeting every year to two years.
