Ｔｈａｉ Ｍｉｎｉｓｔｅｒ ｏｆ Ｃｏｍｍｅｒｃｅ Ｋｒａｉ Ｊｉｒａｐａｅｔ Ｖｉｓｉｔｓ Ｃｈｉｎａ

At the invitation of the CPAFFC， Krai Jirapaet， Thai minister of commerce， led an eight-member delegation to visit the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region and the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region from August 12 to 17. In Xinjiang， Ismayil Taliwaldi， chairman of the Autonomous Region， met with the delegation. In Ningxia， Wang Zhengwei， acting chairman of the Autonomous Region， and Wang Yunze， vice president of the Chinese-Thai Friendship Association (CTFA)， met with the delegation on different occasions and Zhang Laiwu， vice chairman of the Autonomous Region， entertained the delegation. Minister Jirapaet attended the 2nd China (Ningxia) International Hallal Food/Muslim Commodities Festival and the Ningxia Investment Trade Fair in Yinchuan.

Friendly Relations Enhanced

During his meeting with the delegation， Vice President Wang Yunze said， since 1975 when China and Thailand established diplomatic relations， under the care of the national leaders of both countries and with the joint efforts made by both sides with sincerity and frankness， mutual trust and close cooperation no matter rain or shine， the bilateral relationship has witnessed great healthy progress. Along with the smooth development of diplomatic relations， nongovernmental exchanges between the two countries have been strengthened. The CPAFFC， the CTFA， the Thai-Chinese Friendship Association (TCFA) and other Thai organizations have maintained close cooperation for a long time， and held a series of activities to strengthen nongovernmental exchanges between the two countries， fostering a warm kinship between the two peoples， and contributing to the good-neighbourly mutually beneficial cooperation between China and Thailand.

Minister Jirapaet said， the Thai and the Chinese people have a history of friendly exchanges of over a thousand years. He himself has visited China seven times and had new experience every time. He felt that the relations between Thailand and China were developing into full diversity. Minister Jirapaet said， their visit was to promote bilateral economic and trade development， enhance cooperation between the Muslims of the two countries and make more friends. The mutual understanding between the two peoples is the foundation of friendly relations between their countries. The mutual understanding and trust between Thailand and China are very important. Only when there is trust， can both countries’ cooperation institutions practically play their roles. He continued， the Thai and the Chinese governments and nongovernmental organizations have made unremitting efforts to enhance mutual trust， and he hoped both sides would continue to consolidate the foundation of cooperation and the bilateral relations would be flourishing with more beautiful blossoms.

Promoting Economic Exchanges between Thailand and

China’s Western Muslim Regions

In Xinjiang， Chairman Ismayil Taliwaldi said during his meeting with the delegation that Xinjiang was richly endowed with resources and had strong complementary features with Thailand in economy and that it hoped to cooperate with Thailand and explore the central Asian market together. He invited Thai entrepreneurs and businessmen to come to the China Xinjiang Urumqi Foreign Economic Relations and Trade Fair in September.

In Ningxia， at his meeting with the delegation Acting Chairman Wang Zhengwei pointed out， like Thailand， agriculture is outstanding in Ningxia and there are rich resources of coal and comparatively strong food processing. He hoped Ningxia and Thailand would take the platform of the festival and the fair to find more opportunities of cooperation for the entrepreneurs of both sides.

Minister Jirapaet said， Thailand has a strong export capacity; agricultural products such as rice and tapioca flour accounts for 15% of the total export volume. In southern Thailand there is Muslim culture， and the production capacity of Muslim food and commodities is strong in Pattani and other places. He hoped a network of various kinds of cooperation would be developed by using Thai technologies and Chinese raw materials.

Jirapaet emphasized that economic and trade relations are important component parts of bilateral relations. China is the third biggest trade partner of Thailand. China’s rapid economic growth provides good business opportunities for Thailand， and the two countries have great potentials in economic and trade cooperation. Thailand is glad to participate in China’s process of development. Hence， with the establishment of the China-ASEAN Free Trade Area (CAFTA) and the acceleration of regional integration of ASEAN， Thailand and China share a bright prospect of cooperation. Thailand hopes China will push forward the bilateral cooperation at the level of ASEAN.