Sihasak says China visit elevates comprehensive Thailand-China strategic cooperation

Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sihasak Phuangketkeow said Prime Minister and Interior Minister Anutin Charnvirakul’s official visit to China had marked a historic success, elevating Thailand-China cooperation across strategic areas.

Speaking in Beijing on July 20, 2026, while accompanying Anutin on his official visit to the People’s Republic of China, Sihasak said this was the first official visit to China by the current government and had achieved highly successful results.

The Thai delegation held talks with China’s top leaders, including President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Qiang.

Sihasak said both sides reaffirmed Thailand-China relations as a “comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership”, the highest level of bilateral ties. The relationship covers bilateral cooperation, regional security and cooperation within the ASEAN framework.

The two sides also discussed preparations to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the establishment of Thailand-China diplomatic relations in 2027. Thailand hopes President Xi will pay an official visit to Thailand at the invitation of His Majesty the King.

On the economic front, Thailand reaffirmed its position on attracting high-quality investment, particularly in future industries aligned with the development of the digital economy and green economy.

These include the electric vehicle, or EV, industry, which is expected to help strengthen Thailand’s long-term competitiveness.

Key achievements of the visit included the opening of a new Board of Investment (BOI) office in Chengdu to support investment from western China.

The delegation also hosted a historic business seminar, attended by more than 150 Thai private-sector executives, who met and held business-matching sessions with Chinese companies to expand trade and investment opportunities between the two countries.

In addition, the Thai delegation visited the headquarters of a leading artificial intelligence, or AI, technology company in Beijing. The company expressed readiness to become a partner in developing Thailand’s AI capabilities.

It also proposed that Thailand draw up a national AI strategic plan to systematically set the direction for AI development and application.

Sihasak added that, on security cooperation, Thailand and China agreed to establish a “2+2” consultation mechanism between the foreign ministers and defence ministers of both countries.

China has offered to host the first meeting, with the aim of upgrading bilateral security cooperation.

Thailand also stressed that it gives top priority to cooperation in suppressing online crime networks and scammer syndicates.

The two countries will integrate cooperation across all dimensions, including law enforcement, suppression of human trafficking and anti-money laundering, in order to tackle the problem in a concrete manner.