China News Service, Beijing, January 28 (Xinhua) On January 28, local time, Wang Yi, member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and Foreign Minister, and Thai Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Bambi jointly met with reporters after holding annual consultations.
Wang Yi said that he was very pleased to hold the first annual consultation between the foreign ministers of China and Thailand at the beginning of the new year. They had an in-depth exchange of views and reached many consensuses on implementing the outcomes of the meeting between President Xi Jinping and Thai leaders and promoting the construction of a China-Thailand community with a shared future.
We speak highly of the friendship and mutual trust between China and Thailand. Next year marks the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Thailand. Over the past half century, China-Thailand relations have withstood the test of international ups and downs and become stronger over time. China has always regarded Thailand as a priority in its peripheral diplomacy, appreciates Thailand's firm adherence to the one-China principle, and actively supports the three major global initiatives proposed by President Xi Jinping. We have just signed a mutual visa exemption agreement. The two countries will enter the "visa-free era". I believe that there will be a new upsurge in exchanges between the two peoples, and Chinese tourists to Thailand will definitely increase significantly. We also welcome Thai friends to come to China and feel the vitality of the Chinese land, the warmth and friendliness of the Chinese people, and the fireworks of the Chinese people. "China and Thailand are one family", the people of the two countries should get closer and closer, and the days will become more and more prosperous.
We all believe that China-Thailand mutually beneficial cooperation has broad prospects. China is Thailand's largest trading partner and largest source of foreign investment. Both countries are accelerating towards modernization and must keep pace with the times and open up new prospects for cooperation. Both sides agreed to speed up the construction of the China-Thailand Railway, make every effort to implement the development concept of China-Laos-Thailand Connect, and open the central line of the Pan-Asia Railway as soon as possible. China will import more of Thailand's superior agricultural products, support more Chinese companies to invest and start business in Thailand, and cultivate new growth points for new energy vehicles, digital economy, and green development cooperation. Both sides should also strengthen law enforcement and security cooperation, strictly prevent cross-border criminal activities such as electronic fraud, online gambling, and drug trafficking, and provide a safe and comfortable environment for exchanges and cooperation between the two peoples.
We all look forward to further strengthening multilateral collaboration. In the face of a chaotic international environment, both sides must adhere to the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence, jointly maintain the hard-won peace and stability in the region, and resolutely oppose zero-sum games and win-win games. The two sides committed to upholding true multilateralism and open regionalism, accelerating the construction of China-ASEAN's "Five Homes", accelerating consultations on the "South China Sea Code of Conduct", and jointly safeguarding ASEAN's central status. China supports Thailand in being a good co-chair of the Lancang-Mekong Cooperation and building a community of shared future for Lancang-Mekong countries oriented towards peace and prosperity.
Wang Yi stressed that the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Thailand is just around the corner, and the relations between the two countries stand at a new historical starting point. China is willing to work with Thailand and follow the important consensus reached by the leaders of the two countries to jointly deepen the construction of a more stable, more prosperous and more sustainable China-Thailand community with a shared future, and inject more stability and certainty into a world intertwined with chaos. (over)