At the invitation of Premier Wen Jiabao of the State Council of the People's Republic of China, Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra of the Kingdom of Thailand and the Thai delegation paid an official visit to the People's Republic of China from 17 to 19 April 2012.
During the visit, President Hu Jintao of the People's Republic of China and Chairman Wu Bangguo of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress of the People's Republic of China met with Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra respectively. Premier Wen Jiabao of the State Council held talks with Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra. Vice President Xi Jinping of the People's Republic of China also met with Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra. Vice Premier Wang Qishan and Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra jointly attended the Business Luncheon for China-Thailand Entrepreneurs. The two sides had in-depth exchanges of views on bilateral relations, regional and international issues of common interest in a cordial, constructive and productive atmosphere. Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra thanked the Government and people of the People's Republic of China for the warm and generous hospitality.
The Chinese leaders highly appreciated the personal interest in and support for friendly relations between China and Thailand of HM King Bhumibol Adulyadej, HM Queen Sirikit and other members of the Royal Family over the years, and kindly requested Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra to convey their cordial greetings and best wishes to HM King Bhumibol Adulyadej and HM Queen Sirikit. The Thai side highly appreciated such warm sentiments.
Both sides agreed that the visit further promoted and greatly enhanced the strategic cooperative partnership between China and Thailand. At the conclusion of the meetings and talks, the two sides reached following consensus:
1. The two sides reaffirmed their political will to continue and further develop their partnership, and further concretize their multi-dimensional cooperation as premised on 1) Joint Statement of the Kingdom of Thailand and the People’s Republic of China on a Plan of Action for the 21st Century, signed in Bangkok on 5 February 1999; 2) Joint Communique for Strategic Cooperation, signed on 29 August 2001; and finally of equal importance, 3) Joint Action Plan on China-Thailand Strategic Cooperation (2012-2016) , signed on 17 April 2012 in conjunction with this visit.
2. The two sides expressed profound satisfaction regarding their long-standing and vibrant bilateral relations and fruitful cooperation, which are deeply-rooted in historical and cultural ties extending over centuries. Both sides have continuously and tirelessly worked in tandem to achieve a shared common aspiration for the greater well-being of both peoples and prosperity of the two countries, as well as for greater peace, stability and development in the entire region.
3. The two sides reiterated the conviction that their peace, stability, prosperity and development is inextricably linked, and is contingent on the changing geo-politics and geo-economic architecture, whether in the regional or global contexts. They also agreed that this state of affairs represents tremendous potential as well as great opportunities for further broadening their cooperation. Therefore, they expressed their determination to establish China-Thailand comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership.
4. The two sides reaffirmed that their partnership shall continue to be guided by the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence, the universally recognized principles of international law, in keeping with the spirit of friendship and goodwill. The Thai side remains committed to the One China policy and recognizes the Government of the People's Republic of China as the sole legal government representing the whole of China and that Taiwan is an inalienable part of the Chinese territory, and supports the peaceful development of cross-Strait relations.
5. The two sides were of the view that in order to bring about broader mutual benefits while fulfilling the fundamental interests of their peoples, their comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership should be reinforced through re-energizing and consolidating existing bilateral mechanisms, namely, (1) the China-Thailand Joint Committee on Economic and Trade Cooperation, at Deputy Prime Ministerial level (2) political consultations between their respective Ministries of Foreign Affairs, (3) the annual defence and security consultation between their respective Ministries of Defence, and (4) the China-Thailand Joint Committee on Science and Technology, and mechanisms at provincial levels such as Thailand-Yunnan, Thailand- Guangdong, Thailand-Xiamen Working Groups. Both sides support the establishment of more sister cities or provinces, where appropriate.
6. The two sides emphasized the importance of their continued closer interaction and exchange of visits in various areas and at all levels, including the executive, legislative and judicial branches as well as between political parties of the two countries. This includes engagements between relevant agencies of the two governments, as a means of enhancing mutual understanding and mutual political trust, as well as generating greater and more comprehensive bilateral cooperation.
7. The two sides welcomed the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding between the Government of the Kingdom of Thailand and the Government of the People’s Republic of China on Cooperation on Sustainable Development in Thailand, on 22 December 2011 in Bangkok, Thailand, covering cooperation on development of the high speed rail link and other rail link systems, development of a comprehensive water management system, research and development of affordable clean, renewable, alternative energy as well as energy efficiency and education and human resources development, which demonstrated the value of a true comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership.
8. The two sides agreed to take following necessary and appropriate steps to promote further development of the comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership, as follows :
(1) Promoting greater security cooperation in both traditional and non-traditional security spheres, addressing terrorism, trafficking in narcotic drugs and humans, illegal migration, telecom scams and cyber crime, and promoting cooperation on law enforcement along the Mekong river;
(2) Facilitating and promoting to bilateral trade to reach USD 100 billion, by 2015 and promoting steadily two-way investment in sectors of mutual benefit. Both sides also continue to promote the use of local currencies for the settlement of bilateral trade and investment accounts, and seek to lower the impact of exchange rate risks on bilateral economic and trade cooperation;
(3) Actively pursuing cooperation with regard to both land and water transportation, in particular in the Mekong River and high speed railway construction, in order to advance the greater goal of developing enhanced interlocking regional connectivity, including connectivity beyond ASEAN. By so doing, the two sides agreed to utilize, inter alia, existing land transportation networks connecting Thailand and China, such as the Kunming-Bangkok road (R3A), Mukdahan-Nanning road (R9) and Nakorn Phanom-Nanning road (R12);
(4) Further promoting quality tourism flows and promotion of environmentally-friendly development of the tourist industries of both two countries. An increase in people-to-people exchanges is also encouraged as a fundamental basis for a bilateral relationship in the future;
(5) Promoting the Chinese and Thai languages and cultures in each other's country, and the establishment of cultural centres in each country, and supporting the work of the Confucius institutes and Confucius classrooms in Thailand and Thai corners/Thai studies in China. The two sides will strengthen student exchanges, cooperation between educational institutions, and cooperation on Chinese language teaching under the framework of the agreements on educational cooperation and mutual recognition of advanced educational diplomas and degrees, and will encourage exchanges between young volunteers;
(6) Strengthening cooperation in the fields of agriculture, science and technology, oceans and the environment, expanding bilateral trade in agricultural products, and cooperation in agricultural science and technology. Further strengthening exchanges and cooperation in energy efficiency, clean energy such as solar power, wind power and bio-energy. Jointly promoting the establishment and development of China-Thailand Joint Laboratory on Climate and Marine Ecosystem;
(7) Strengthening exchanges and cooperation in water resource management, flood and disaster prevention and reduction, and post-disaster reconstruction;
(8) Expanding cooperation in public health and sports, and enhancing cooperation in medical research, pharmaceutical production, epidemic prevention and control, and public health emergency preparedness and response;
(9) The Chinese side reaffirms its full and continued support to ASEAN-led regional cooperation which contributes to peace, stability and prosperity in the region. Thailand, as the incoming coordinating country for ASEAN-China relations, pledges to work closely with China to promote ASEAN-China strategic relations and as a Co-Chair of ASEAN-China FTA, will continue to work closely with China in order to realize region-wide benefits. Both sides shall continue to strengthen coordination and cooperation, and deepen existing cooperation under ASEAN-China and ASEAN+3 frameworks in order to realize the long-term goal of building an East Asian community. The two sides reaffirm that the East Asia Summit (EAS) shall maintain its nature of a "leaders-led" strategic forum that promotes consensus, gradual evolvement and accommodates the comfort level of all sides, with a focus on regional and global issues of common interest;
(10) The Chinese side reiterates its support to Thailand's initiative to develop ASEAN+3 Partnership on Connectivity, and looks forward to working closely with Thailand to realize this initiative;
(11) The two sides appreciate the consensus reached in July 2011 on the guideline for the implementation of the Declaration of Conduct of the Parties in South China Sea (DOC) and the cooperation carried out within the framework of DOC between China and the ASEAN Member States. They encourage all parties to take the 10th anniversary of the DOC as a rare opportunity to comprehensively implement the DOC, and carry out cooperation in order to turn the South China Sea into a sea of peace, friendship and cooperation;
(12) Continuing promotion of economic cooperation in the Greater Mekong Sub-region (GMS), and supporting the implementation of the GMS Economic Cooperation Programme Strategic Framework (2012-2022), adopted in December 2011, in order to make a greater contribution to poverty reduction and socio-economic development in the region;
(13) Further strengthening coordination and cooperation at the United Nations, the World Trade Organization, the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Forum, the Asia-Europe Meeting, the Asia Cooperation Dialogue and other regional and international mechanisms.
9. The Thai side expresses its profound appreciation for the Government and the people of China for the prompt assistance, both in cash and in kind, extended to Thailand during the devastated flood in Thailand in 2011.
For further information, please contact the Press Division, Department of Information, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Tel.02-6435170, Fax.02-6435169, E-mail: div0704@mfa.go.th