China supports Thailand in pursuing a development path that suits its national condition, Chinese President Xi Jinping said on Thursday during a meeting with Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin in Beijing, adding that both sides should support each other in issues concerning each other’s core interests and major concerns.
China stands ready to work with Thailand to continuously add new dimensions to their family-like relations and transform the advantages of their traditional friendship into a driving force for win-win cooperation, Xi said.
China and Thailand should accelerate the China-Thailand railway construction, expand cooperation in areas including the digital economy, green development and new energy, as well as enhance people-to-people exchanges, he said.
Both sides should step up efforts to crack down on cross-border crimes such as telecom fraud and online gambling to create a safe environment for both countries’ development, he said.
China is willing to strengthen cooperation with Thailand in multilateral frameworks, including the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the Lancang-Mekong Cooperation mechanism and the United Nations, he added.
Noting that Srettha has made China his first official visit outside ASEAN countries, Xi said it fully reflects the great importance that the new Thai government attaches to bilateral ties.
The Thai prime minister said his country is ready to work with China to build a more stable, prosperous and sustainable Thailand-China community with a shared future.
He said Thailand respects China’s core interests and firmly upholds the one-China principle, expressing hope that both sides should deepen pragmatic cooperation, jointly build the Thailand-China railway and promote the vision of interconnected development of China, Laos and Thailand.
Thailand will do its utmost to ensure the safety of Chinese citizens in Thailand and welcomes more Chinese enterprises to invest and more Chinese citizens to visit Thailand, he added.
