This year marks the 10th anniversary of the establishment of the comprehensive strategic partnership between China and Thailand, and the economic and trade cooperation between China and Thailand is ushering in new opportunities. At the China-Thailand Cooperation Forum held on June 15 in the form of online and offline, many Chinese and Thai industry players discussed the further deepening of economic and trade cooperation between the two countries, saying that China-Thailand economic and trade cooperation has laid a solid foundation for cooperation in the past ten years, and that enterprises on both sides should seize new opportunities such as the implementation of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (RCEP) to expand broader and wider areas of cooperation and continue to make the pie of China-Thailand economic and trade cooperation bigger. The two sides should seize new opportunities such as the implementation of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (RCEP), expand broader and wider areas of cooperation, and continue to make the cake of Sino-Thai economic and trade cooperation bigger.

Fruitful economic and trade cooperation

"China-Thailand economic and trade relations have formed a multi-level, multi-channel and all-round cooperation pattern." Chinese Ambassador to Thailand Han Zhiqiang said in his speech that China and Thailand are good neighbors, good brothers and good partners, and the two countries have vigorously carried out the "Belt and Road" interconnection construction, and cooperation in infrastructure, industrial investment, digital economy, agriculture, e-commerce and other fields have also made bright achievements. Since the outbreak of Newcastle Pneumonia, the two countries have joined hands to fight the epidemic, jointly promote economic recovery, and develop a comprehensive strategic partnership, and the concept of "China and Thailand as one family" is deeply rooted in people's hearts.

Thai Ambassador to China Atayo said that this year is the tenth anniversary of upgrading the relationship between Thailand and China to a comprehensive strategic partnership, and bilateral economic cooperation is close, and there is still a lot of room for cooperation and development.

Bilateral trade between Thailand and China will reach USD 131.2 billion in 2021, up 33% year-on-year. On top of the high growth rate, the trade volume between China and Thailand increased by 6% year-on-year from January to May this year. In addition, from January to April this year, Thailand was also one of the top 10 countries in terms of non-financial direct investment by Chinese enterprises in countries along the Belt and Road.

Xu Ningning, executive director of China-ASEAN Business Council and chairman of RCEP Industry Cooperation Committee, said that over the past 10 years since the establishment of the comprehensive strategic partnership between China and Thailand, the relationship between the two countries has developed comprehensively and deeply, especially in the past nine years, the "Belt and Road" has been built together to upgrade the relationship to a new stage. From January to May this year, the bilateral trade volume between China and Thailand has increased 1.7 times compared with the same period 10 years ago.

Talking about the reasons for the rapid growth of economic and trade cooperation between the two sides, Xu Ningning took the example of Chinese enterprises investing in Thailand and analyzed that firstly, the people of both countries highly recognize the "China-Thailand family" and the friendly relationship between the two countries has a solid foundation. The second is that the political and business relations bring about business communication, and the construction of "one belt and one road" brings vitality to the cooperation between the two countries. Third, the economic and trade complementarity between the two sides is strong. Fourth, the China-ASEAN Free Trade Agreement and other arrangements provide institutional convenience. Fifth, Thailand has special preferential policies to attract investment, abundant natural resources and labor resources, and better industrial support. Sixth, by investing in Thailand, Chinese enterprises can better develop the ASEAN and global markets.

Seize new opportunities comprehensively

With the implementation of RCEP, the opening of the China-Laos High Speed Rail and the in-depth promotion of the "Belt and Road" construction, coupled with the continuous strengthening of the cooperation foundation between the two sides, China-Thailand mutually beneficial cooperation is ushering in new historical opportunities.

Han said that currently, China-Thailand economic and trade cooperation has shown strong momentum in overcoming the impact of the epidemic. "I believe that with the joint efforts of both sides, the Sino-Thai economic and trade cooperation relationship will ride the wave and move forward for the benefit of the people of both countries and make continuous new contributions to the peaceful development of the region."

"I am convinced that Thai-Chinese cooperation, especially economic cooperation, will be more prosperous and have a broader prospect in the coming decade." Atayut believes that as comprehensive strategic partners, Thailand and China have been working hand in hand over the past decade to overcome challenges together on the basis of mutual understanding and support, and the close relationship between the two countries will promote further deepening of economic and trade cooperation.

Atayut said that Thailand and China should further enhance the level of economic and trade cooperation and expand the areas of cooperation to better adapt to the current changes in the world landscape, specifically from four aspects: First, to promote Thailand-China local cooperation, better play the role of exhibitions and chambers of commerce and other promotion, and constantly deepen local cooperation. Second, more and better play the role of RCEP and other related FTAs. Third, promote cooperation between the two sides in multiple fields such as bio-economy, circular economy and green economy. The fourth is to expand regional and sub-regional cooperation to improve people's living standards.

In Xu Ningning's view, China-Thailand deepening economic and trade cooperation also needs to make further efforts in five areas: First, accelerate connectivity, deepen the "Belt and Road" and "Thailand 4.0", "Eastern Economic Corridor First, accelerate connectivity and deepen the docking of development strategies such as "One Belt, One Road" and "Thailand 4.0" and "Eastern Economic Corridor. Second, strengthen industrial cooperation, and establish a mechanism for cooperation between the two countries in major industries. Third, to increase two-way investment, expand the scale of investment and drive trade growth. Fourth, enterprises from both sides use the free trade agreement policy to cooperate in developing the two countries' markets, regional markets and even international markets. Fifth, the two sides should deepen exchanges and cooperation in tourism, culture, media, youth, think tanks and other humanities fields.

Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)