Chinese Vice President Begins Visit to Thailand

Chinese Vice President Begins Visit to Thailand

At the invitation of the government of Thailand, Chinese Vice-President Hu Jintao arrived in Bangkok Tuesday evening, initiating a five-day official visit to the country, the second leg of his five-nation tour.

It marks another significant visit of senior Chinese leaders to Thailand since Chinese president Jiang Zemin paid a historical visit to the nation last September.

During his first visit to the country as the Chinese vice- president, Hu will meet members of the Thai royal family, leaders in the Thai government and personage from all walks of life of Thailand, exchanging views with them on further deepening and expanding the cooperation between China and Thailand.

As he walked down from the plane, the Chinese vice-president received a warm welcome from Thai Vice Foreign Minister Sukhumbhand Paribatra, who led a number of senior Thai officials to greet Hu at Bangkok's Military Airport.

China's Ambassador to Thailand Fu Xuezhang, Chinese Embassy staffs and representatives of Chinese businessmen, teachers, students and overseas Chinese in Bangkok also gathered in the airport to greet their vice-president.

In a written statement upon his arrival, Hu said, "it is an honor and a great pleasure for me to pay an official visit to Thailand upon invitation on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the establishment of China-Thailand diplomatic relations."

"During the 25 years since the establishment of diplomatic ties, there have been frequent contacts and ever-deepening mutual understanding between our two peoples, as well as ever-expanding exchanges between departments and at different levels," he said. The mutually beneficial cooperation in various fields between the two peoples are also developing smoothly, he added.

The senior Chinese leader said he was "pleased to see that China-Thailand relations have become an exemplary model of peaceful coexistence and mutually beneficial cooperation between countries with different social systems."

Noting that "Thailand is one of the most important cooperation partners of China in Southeast Asia, " he remarked, " at the turn of the century, China-Thailand cooperation enjoys a new opportunity for development."

"I am convinced that, with concerted efforts of both sides, the China-Thailand relations of good-neighborliness, mutual trust and all-round cooperation will surely achieve a better development, which is not only beneficial to the two peoples, but also conducive to regional peace and development, " he said.

"I am convinced this visit will be a complete success, " he said.

Before arriving in Thailand, Hu has visited Myanmar between July 16 and 18. He will visit Indonesia, Byelorussia and Kazhakhstan after he leaves Thailand on July 22.

Hu's entourage includes his wife Liu Yongqing, Deputy Foreign Minister Wang Guangya, Deputy Director Ling Jihua of the General Office of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, Deputy Director Wang Yang of the State Development and Planning Committee, Deputy Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation Minister Chen Xinhua, and other senior Chinese officials.