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Orange Wang

China stood ready to align development strategies with Thailand for “greater progress” in ties, President Xi Jinping told the visiting Thai monarch King Maha Vajiralongkorn in Beijing on Friday.
The Chinese leader described the two nations as “genuine good relatives, friends and partners” as he met the king at the Great Hall of the People, according to state broadcaster CCTV.
“China is willing to strengthen strategic alignment with Thailand,” Xi said, while pitching Beijing’s 15th five-year plan as offering potential synergies with development of the Southeast Asian nation, the report said.
Xi added that Beijing was ready to import more Thai agricultural products and work with the kingdom to “steadily” advance major infrastructure projects such as the China-Thailand railway, while broadening joint efforts on artificial intelligence, the digital economy and aerospace.
He also pledged that China would actively support the Thai royal family’s charitable initiatives and boost exchanges to share its poverty reduction experience.
King Maha Vajiralongkorn described the cooperation between the two countries as one “between brothers”. He said that Thailand was ready to learn from China’s development experience, expand cooperation across various fields and increase people-to-people exchanges, according to the Chinese account of the talks.

His state visit, which started on Thursday and will run through Monday, marks the first trip to China by a Thai monarch since diplomatic ties were established half a century ago. It has been hailed by both Beijing and Bangkok as a “historic” event.
His visit, which coincides with the 50th anniversary of China-Thailand diplomatic relations, is expected to carry considerable significance for bilateral ties.
“Standing at a new historical starting point, I look forward to working with King Maha Vajiralongkorn to advance the China-Thailand community with a shared future and achieve greater progress in the next 50 years,” Xi said.
Before the meeting, Xi and his wife Peng Liyuan held a ceremony to welcome the king and Queen Suthida.
During their five-day trip, the Thai royals will focus on institutions that highlight China’s development in science, technology, innovation and education, in addition to visiting cultural and religious sites in Beijing, according to Bangkok.
China has been Thailand’s largest trading partner for 12 years in a row. While Thailand is one of two US treaty allies in Southeast Asia, it has also deepened cooperation with China in the security field, marked by a joint air force exercise in September.
King Maha Vajiralongkorn visited China four times as crown prince – in 1987, 1988, 1992 and 1998. His most recent meeting with Xi was in Bangkok in 2022. His predecessor and father, the late King Bhumibol Adulyadej – who spent seven decades on the throne – did not visit China.
The Thai monarchy has played a significant role in sustaining Thai-Chinese relations through the work of the king’s younger sister.
Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn, who has studied Chinese art and language for the past 45 years, has been a frequent visitor to China and is officially regarded by Beijing as an “old friend of the Chinese people”.

Separately on Friday, China, Thailand and four other Southeast Asian countries pledged to boost joint efforts to crack down on telecoms and online fraud, according to state media.
Law enforcement agencies from China, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam met on Friday in Kunming, capital of southwest China’s Yunnan province, and agreed to set up coordination mechanisms and improve information sharing to safeguard regional peace and stability.
In an interview with the official People’s Daily Online published on Thursday, China’s top envoy to Thailand, Zhang Jianwei, characterised the bilateral relationship as “at its best in history”.
Zhang added that China-Thailand relations went beyond the bilateral scope with “broad common interests and similar positions” in international and regional affairs, noting that Beijing supported a peaceful resolution of the Thai-Cambodian border dispute via the “Asean way”, referring to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.
Tensions between Thailand and Cambodia, simmering since a flare-up in July, reignited sharply this week, with Bangkok on Monday halting a US-brokered ceasefire deal signed with Phnom Penh two weeks earlier.


Bangkok’s move came after a landmine blast that injured four Thai soldiers, followed two days later by reports from both sides of gunfire across the disputed boundary, with officials trading accusations of fresh clashes.
Asked about the recent situation, the Chinese foreign ministry said on Thursday that Beijing “sincerely hopes that both sides can exercise restraint”.
The king’s visit also comes as Bangkok works to ease Beijing’s concerns about tourist safety in Thailand following a spate of cases involving fraud syndicates and human trafficking, notably the kidnapping of Chinese actor Wang Xing earlier this year.
China is one of Thailand’s top sources of foreign visitors. However, the number of inbound Chinese tourists in the first 10 months of this year fell by almost 34 per cent compared with the same period last year, according to Thai government data.
Thailand also saw a 7.2 per cent year-on-year decline in the total number of foreign tourist arrivals in the January-October period.
Additional reporting by Maria Siow


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China

Diplomacy

Thai monarch on historic five-day state visit likens the Thailand-China relationship to that ‘between brothers’


Thai monarch on historic five-day state visit likens the Thailand-China relationship to that ‘between brothers’.


Thailand

King Maha Vajiralongkorn

Xi Jinping

China’s Xi welcomes Thai king with pledge for ‘greater progress’ in family-strength ties

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Thai monarch on historic five-day state visit likens the Thailand-China relationship to that ‘between brothers’

Thai monarch on historic five-day state visit likens the Thailand-China relationship to that ‘between brothers’