Chinese premier calls for closer economic, trade cooperation with Thailand

BANGKOK, Oct. 11 -- China stands ready to promote mutually beneficial cooperation in economy and trade with Thailand, visiting Chinese Premier Li Keqiang said here Friday.

Addressing the Thai parliament, Li said China is ready to work with Thailand 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.

Li said rubber is an important commodity in China-Thailand trade, and Beijing would consider importing more rubber from Bangkok as well, adding that the Chinese side would build a special mechanism to boost bilateral cooperation on agricultural trade.

With frequent people-to-people exchanges and closer economic ties between the two countries, China will consider the establishment of RMB clearing banks in Thailand and encourage enterprises of the two countries to settle bilateral trade in their national currencies.

Li arrived here earlier in the day for an official visit to Thailand, the second leg of his maiden trip to Southeast Asia since he took office in March.

Before that, he has just wrapped up a tightly-scheduled visit to Brunei, where he also attended a series of meetings with East Asian leaders.