Xi Jinping Meets with Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha of Thailand

On April 26, 2019, President Xi Jinping met with Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha of Thailand at the Great Hall of the People.

Xi Jinping asked Prayut Chan-o-cha to convey his warm greetings to King Maha Vajiralongkorn Bodindradebayavarangkun. Xi Jinping pointed out that China and Thailand are close neighbors and share close bloodline, and the joint construction of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) makes the already amicable bilateral relations even better. The two countries should carry forward the traditional friendship and enhance high-level contacts, so as to guide the sound development of the bilateral relations. The Chinese side will continue to support Thailand's efforts in maintaining domestic stability and promoting national development, and is willing to work with the Thai side to strengthen the alignment of the two countries' development strategies and advance high-quality BRI cooperation, well build the China-Thailand railway, promote the “Eastern Economic Corridor”, lead cooperation in innovation, and forge the “people-oriented projects” to give a strong boost to the bilateral relations. The Chinese side supports the Thai side's role as the rotating chair of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) this year, and is willing to deeply align the BRI with the ASEAN's connectivity plan to promote regional connectivity and development and build a closer community of shared future for China and the ASEAN.

Prayut Chan-o-cha congratulated on the great development of the People's Republic of China since its founding 70 years ago. The Thai side spoke highly of China's achievements in the fields of economic growth, poverty reduction and environmental protection and appreciated that China is always future-oriented and attaches great importance to innovation-driven development. Thailand cherishes its traditional friendship with China and is ready to maintain close high-level exchanges and deepen cooperation in economy, trade, science and technology and other fields with China. Thailand has benefited greatly from the infrastructure and data connectivity since the inception of the BRI almost six years ago. Thailand will continue to support and actively participate in the BRI cooperation. As the rotating chair of the ASEAN, Thailand is ready to promote in-depth development of ASEAN-China relations.

Ding Xuexiang, Yang Jiechi, Wang Yi and He Lifeng attended the meeting.