Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha is set to meet several Chinese officials during the week. (Photo : Reuters)
Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha met with Meng Jianzhu, a senior Chinese security official, on Thursday to discuss bilateral cooperation between the two countries.
Meng, who is the Secretary-General of the Commission for Political and Legal Affairs of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and a special envoy of President Xi Jinping, also extended greetings from Xi to Prayut.
As the two nations are set to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties this year, China hopes to maintain close high-level exchanges with Thailand, strengthen dialogue, and promote mutual cooperation in key such as trade, energy, education and transportation, Meng said.
Meng also added that both countries have had fruitful cooperation in maintaining security in the Mekong River basin, from which the Chinese government is open to increasing information exchanges and cooperation regarding drug control, transnational organized crimes, and cybersecurity with its Thai counterparts, as well as the creation of a comprehensive mechanism to jointly cope with security challenges on a regional and global scale.
In turn, Prayut expressed his thanks toward President Xi's message, and asked Meng to convey his best wishes. The prime minister also pushed for the two countries to take advantage of the 40th anniversary of their diplomatic ties to bolster cooperation in agriculture, infrastructure construction, and tourism.
The Thai government also expressed its gratitude for China in its support for the country's reforms and development initiatives, Prayut said, adding that Thailand will be an active partner in the Chinese government's plan to build a New Maritime Silk Road and the Silk Road Economic Belt.
Meng is scheduled to stay in Thailand until Sunday, where he will also meet with Thailand's Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister Prawit Wongsuwon and other Thai political leaders.
