China, Thailand to build community with shared future for enhanced stability, prosperity, sustainability

*China has remained Thailand's largest trading partner for nine consecutive years, and has been a major export market for Thailand's agricultural products.

*Since its opening nearly a year ago, the China-Laos Railway has carried more than 10 million tons of cargo, many of which are between China and Thailand.

*At a new historical starting point, China will work with Thailand to carry forward the special bond that "China and Thailand are as close as one family."

BANGKOK -- China and Thailand agreed here on Saturday to build a China-Thailand community with a shared future for enhanced stability, prosperity and sustainability, according to a joint statement issued during Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit to Bangkok.

China and Thailand are close neighbors, and people of the two countries have enjoyed a long history of friendly exchanges. The two countries have also enjoyed close trade and economic ties over the years.

China has remained Thailand's largest trading partner for nine consecutive years, and has been a major export market for Thailand's agricultural products. High-quality Belt and Road cooperation between the two countries has delivered fruitful results.

A worker arranges durians at a durian processing factory in the Chanthaburi province, Thailand, May 5, 2022. [Xinhua/Wang Teng]

CHINA AND THAILAND, CLOSE AS ONE FAMILY

President Xi met with Thailand's King Maha Vajiralongkorn Phra Vajiraklaochaoyuhua and Queen Suthida Bajrasudhabimalalakshana at the Grand Palace here on Friday night.

Xi said China will continue working with Thailand to carry forward the two countries' special bond of being one family, build a China-Thailand community with a shared future together and write a new chapter in bilateral relations.

King Vajiralongkorn said Thailand and China are one family, and Thailand stands ready to forge a closer bond of friendship and cooperation with China.

China and Thailand are close friendly neighbors, and in recent years bilateral economic and trade cooperation has been on the rise. Bilateral trade volume surged 33 percent year on year to 131.18 billion U.S. dollars in 2021, according to data from China's General Administration of Customs.

Since its opening nearly a year ago, the China-Laos Railway has carried more than 10 million tons of cargo, many of which are between China and Thailand.

Furthermore, the construction of the China-Thailand high-speed railway and connecting it with the China-Laos Railway to form an artery running through the Indo-China Peninsula will further facilitate the flow of people and logistics, promote economic and trade development and achieve common prosperity.

The Thai-Chinese Rayong industrial zone, established in 2006, is one of the first Chinese overseas industrial sites. Now home to more than 180 Chinese-invested companies, mostly in the automobile, electronics and machinery sectors, the industrial zone has attracted more than 4.3 billion dollars in investment from China and provided more than 45,000 local jobs.

As developing countries and close neighbors, China and Thailand also share many common interests, propositions and positions on major international and regional issues.

This aerial photo taken on Sept. 7, 2022 shows a construction site of the China-Thailand railway in Nakhon Ratchasima province, Thailand. [Xinhua/Lin Hao]

CHINA-THAILAND COMMUNITY WITH SHARED FUTURE

President Xi met with Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha here on Saturday and the two sides agreed to build China-Thailand community with a shared future for enhanced stability, prosperity and sustainability.

During the meeting, Xi congratulated Thailand on its success in hosting the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Economic Leaders' Meeting, stressing the millennia-old friendship between China and Thailand and the fraternity between the two peoples.

Over the past ten years since the two countries established the comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership, our traditional friendship has gained even greater strength, the comprehensive strategic cooperation has continued to deepen, and bilateral relations have entered a new development stage, Xi noted.

At a new historical starting point, China will work with Thailand to carry forward the special bond that "China and Thailand are as close as one family," build a China-Thailand community with a shared future for enhanced stability, prosperity and sustainability, add new dimensions to the family-like relations, open up a new era of China-Thailand relations, and deliver more benefits to the two peoples, he said.

The Thai prime minister extended warm congratulations on the successful 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and on Xi's election as general secretary of the CPC Central Committee.

Thailand supports the Global Development Initiative and Global Security Initiative put forward by Xi and supports China in playing a greater role in regional and international affairs, he said.

After the meeting, the leaders issued a Joint Statement between the Government of People's Republic of China and the Government of the Kingdom of Thailand on Working towards a China-Thailand Community with a Shared Future for Enhanced Stability, Prosperity and Sustainability.

This aerial photo taken on Dec. 29, 2021 shows the Thai-Chinese Rayong Industrial Zone located at the east coast of Thailand. [Xinhua/Wang Teng]

ASIA-PACIFIC COMMUNITY WITH SHARED FUTURE

President Xi arrived in Bangkok on Thursday to attend the 29th APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting and pay a visit to Thailand. Delivering a speech Friday at the APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting, Xi called for building an Asia-Pacific community with a shared future.

In his speech, Xi stressed the need to follow the spirit of the Asia-Pacific family, look after one another like passengers in the same boat, and steadily move toward an Asia-Pacific community with a shared future.

He said that "over the past decades, robust economic cooperation in the region has created the 'Asia-Pacific miracle' admired across the world. Asia-Pacific cooperation has taken deep roots in the hearts of the people."

On Saturday, Xi said that free and open trade and investment are among the purposes and principles of APEC, and an important pillar in the realization of the Putrajaya Vision 2040.

The Chinese president stressed the importance of upholding true multilateralism and defending the multilateral trading system, upholding inclusiveness for the benefit of all, and upholding open regional cooperation for the prosperity of the Asia-Pacific.

Video reporters: Guo Xinhui, Wang Yaguang, Song Yu; video editors: Yu Jiaming, Liu Yutian, Zhang Yuhong, Zhu Cong, Cao Ying