Chinese premier makes four-point proposal to upgrade ties with Thailand

Visiting Chinese Premier Li Keqiang Friday made a four-pronged proposal to lift China-Thailand relations to a higher stage in a speech delivered at the Thai parliament.

Stressing the "familial affection" between the two sides, Li urged both nations to jointly plan for the future, deepen pragmatic cooperation, speed up inter-connectivity construction and enhance people-to-people exchange.

Among the proposals, he called for keeping the frequent exchange of high-level visits between the two sides.

The two nations should not only implement the agreed-upon joint projects but also make long-term strategic overall planning, Li said.

To that end, he said the two sides will issue a joint press communique about the long-term vision of the development of bilateral ties to provide a roadmap for future cooperation.

The Chinese side is also willing to advance bilateral cooperation in transport, water conservancy, energy and education in accordance with Thailand's national development strategic planning, Li said.

On economy and trade ties, Li urged the two sides to implement the Joint Action Plan on China-Thailand Strategic Cooperation, and strive to meet the goal of increasing the two-way trade volume to 100 billion U.S. dollars by 2015 at an earlier date.

Thailand abounds with agricultural products such as rice, the Chinese premier said, adding that his country will support Chinese enterprises to import 1 million tons of rice from Thailand in the next five years.