Anutin heads to Chengdu to court Chinese tech, EV and tourism investment

Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul on Saturday led a high-level Thai government delegation to Chengdu, Sichuan province, as part of an official visit to China aimed at strengthening economic, technology and tourism cooperation.

The prime minister and delegation are visiting China from July 16-20, with Saturday’s mission taking them from Shanghai to Chengdu to accelerate efforts to attract Chinese investment into Thailand.

Anutin and his delegation departed from Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport at 8.30am and were scheduled to arrive at Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport at 11.30am local time, which is one hour ahead of Thailand.

Upon arrival, the prime minister began his economic programme at the Tianfu International Convention Center, where he joined the Prime Minister-Thai Private Sector Luncheon with 110 representatives from the Thai private sector. The session was designed to exchange views and gather proposals on how Thai businesses can better penetrate the Chinese market.

Anutin later presided over the opening of the Thailand-China (Sichuan) Investment and Economic Forum 2026, delivering a keynote speech outlining Thailand’s readiness to welcome investment from Sichuan.

He also joined senior Thai and Chinese executives in officially opening the Investment Section at the Royal Thai Consulate-General in Chengdu, or the BOI Chengdu Office, which will serve as a key mechanism for attracting advanced investment into Thailand.

A key part of the day’s programme was a series of one-on-one meetings between the prime minister and executives from six leading Chinese companies to push forward concrete cooperation.

In high-technology and automotive industries, supported by the Board of Investment (BOI), Anutin was scheduled to meet executives from Xiaomi Corporation, the global technology and smartphone giant; Changan Automobile, a major Chinese automaker with a production base in Thailand; InnoLight Technology, a leader in optoelectronic devices; and Eoptolink Technology, a specialist in high-speed optical transmission systems.

In tourism and services, supported by the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), the prime minister was due to hold talks with Sichuan Airlines on increasing flights and direct routes linking both secondary and major cities in Thailand. He was also scheduled to meet Meituan, China’s major lifestyle services and e-commerce platform, to attract more high-quality Chinese tourists to Thailand.

In the evening, Wang Xiaohui, secretary of the Communist Party of China Sichuan Provincial Committee, was scheduled to pay a courtesy call on the prime minister at the Chengdu Century City International Convention Center at 6.30pm.

Wang was then due to host a gala dinner in honour of Anutin and the Thai delegation, marking another step in efforts to deepen regional-level ties between Thailand and Sichuan.