1113712009_title0h.jpg (Photo : Xinhua)
As part of a major international tour, Premier Li Keqiang arrived in Thailand at the end of the week for the fifth summit of the six-nation Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) Economic Cooperation group.
However, Li's focus on Friday was solely Thailand, and both he and Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha emerged from a day of negotiation with significant outcomes.
Li had flown in from Europe, where he was the first Chinese premier in a Balkan country such as Slovenia and further established the Silk Road Economic Belt plan with fellow members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), including Russia and Uzbekistan.
Although China is very keen to build relations that facilitate access to Western Europe, the Central and Eastern European representatives were also eager to impress the premier of an Asian economic giant with even further potential to grow.
The media was reminded of China's powerful status after the premier emerged from his meeting with Prayut, and announced the signing of a long-term memorandum of understanding (MOU) on farm produce trade.
"Only China has such a big market and a huge purchasing power which could consume the big agricultural production of rice, rubber and others of Thailand," said Li.
Li informed reporters that China agreed to double its financial arrangement with the Thai agricultural sector, based on the terms of a 2013 agreement. Furthermore, China hopes to develop ties, including more balanced bilateral trade, in a more meaningful manner with Thailand in the coming years.
Farming was not the only item on the agenda on Friday, as China will provide the construction resources to build Thailand's first-ever standard-gauge railway line, which has already been approved by the National Legislative Assembly of Thailand. The railway line will be approximately 800 kilomters in length, but, if expanded sufficiently, it will also be able to service neighboring countries.
With a framework of cooperation already in place between China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), Li said that he looks forward to building upon China's relations with regional counterparts at the GMS gathering.
