Bangkok, September 19th-- Prayuth Chan-ocha, Prime Minister of Thailand, met here today with Song Tao, Minister of the International Department of the CPC Central Committee.

Song first conveyed the sincere greetings from General Secretary Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang, and then congratulated Prayuth on the successful formation of the new government. He said that China-Thailand friendship enjoys a long-standing history. General Secretary Xi has met with Your Excellency many times, leading bilateral relations to new highs. The CPC is ready to work with major Thai political parties to implement the important consensus reached by leaders of the two countries, deepen exchanges of experience in state governance and administration, strengthen synergy of development strategies, and advance high-quality cooperation in jointly building the Belt and Road Initiative so as to deliver more benefits to the two peoples. China supports Thailand in taking the rotating chair of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) this year and stands ready to further integrate the Belt and Road Initiative with the ASEAN’s connectivity plan so as to build a closer China-ASEAN community of shared future.

Prayuth asked Song to convey his best wishes to President Xi and Premier Li, and expressed his congratulations on the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China. He said that Thailand cherishes its traditional friendship with China and the new Thai government will firmly push forward bilateral friendly relations. The Belt and Road Initiative put forward by President Xi has benefited countries in the region and the world at large. Thailand is ready to continue to actively participate in extensive consultation and joint contribution and promote bilateral cooperation in economy, trade, investment, tourism, science and technology to a deeper level. Thailand attaches importance to strategic communication with China on international and regional issues and is ready to step up coordination and cooperation to jointly maintain the momentum of regional peace, stability and development and push for in-depth development of ASEAN-China relations. Prayuth said that Thailand admires the CPC's great achievements in state governance and administration and supports all parties in the ruling coalition of Thailand to enhance mutual learning with the CPC and jointly enhance governance capacity and level.

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