Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao meets Thai Prime Minister
24/10/2008 17:16
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao met in Beijing this morning with Thai Prime
Minister Somchai Wongsawat who is here to attend the seventh Asia-Europe Meeting
(ASEM) to be held on Oct. 24 to 25.
Wen said China is willing to maintain
high-level contacts with Thailand to solidify Sino-Thai good neighborly
friendship and promote strategic cooperation in terms of economy and trade,
personnel and cultural exchanges, as well as regional and international
affairs.
The Chinese government will actively promote bilateral trade growth
and give support to Chinese enterprises to take part in infrastructure building
in Thailand, he said.
He hoped the two sides could set up cultural centers
mutually at an early date and enhance exchanges between young peoples.
China
is willing to cooperate with Thailand in hosting a series of East Asia meetings
in Bangkok at the year-end and push forward cooperation in East Asia.
Wen
said since China and Thailand established diplomatic relations 33 years ago, the
two sides have respected and helped each other to strive for further
development.
He expressed the hope that Thailand could maintain stability,
harmony and economic development.
Wongsawat said during the meeting that the
two peoples have been engaged in friendly contacts and the two countries have
conducted mutually beneficial cooperation in various fields.
Thailand hoped
China could sustain development, which was significant for both Thailand and the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), he said, adding that Thailand is
willing to further exchanges and cooperation with China in various
fields.
Established as a high-level forum between governments of Asia and
Europe, the ASEM this year is expected to focus on how to respond to the current
global financial crisis.
Launched in 1996 as an informal dialogue mechanism,
the biennial ASEM now includes 45 members, representing more than 50 percent of
the world's gross domestic product.
Xinhua
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