Yunnan Provincial People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries

Celebration of the 50th Anniversary of the Establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Thailand was held in Kunming

On July 11th, a symposium to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the diplomatic relations between the People's Republic of China and the Kingdom of Thailand was held in Kunming, organized by the Foreign Affairs Office of Yunnan Provincial People's Government, the Yunnan Provincial People's Association for Foreign Friendship, and the Consulate General of Thailand in Kunming. Representatives from Yunnan and Thailand gathered to jointly review the friendly journey of the two countries through thick and thin, and to look forward to the bright future of China-Thai relations and Yunnan-Thailand cooperation.

The participants agreed that Yunnan is an important gateway to South and Southeast Asia, with unique geographical advantages and abundant natural resources; Thailand is an important geographical hub in Southeast Asia, with convenient transportation, a good industrial base and rich tourism resources. The two sides are geographically close, share a common people and culture, and have many cooperation contents and great potential in the fields of humanities, economy and trade, education, agriculture, tourism and new energy.

"Good roads lead to prosperity in all walks of life. The extension of transportation is the extension of development, and it is also the extension of friendship and hope." said Fan Dongfang, a member of the Party Group of the Yunnan Provincial Department of Transport, looking back on the past decade. In 2008, the completion of the Kun曼 Highway connected the "big artery" of China-Thailand goods transport. In 2021, the opening of the China-Laos Railway connected the railway networks of China and Thailand, enabling Thai goods to be sold to major cities in China and allowing Chinese consumers to enjoy " durian freedom". He also proposed initiatives to strengthen the transportation and connectivity between Yunnan and Thailand in terms of railways, highways, civil aviation, shipping, international road transport, and training of transportation talents, including accelerating the seamless connection of the China-Laos-Thailand standard gauge railways, supporting the promotion of the Kun曼 Highway to a fully expressway, densifying international routes, and promoting the removal of obstacles to the international shipping of the Lancang-Meikang River.

Building a more stable, prosperous and sustainable China-Thailand community of shared future requires the financial integration and interconnectivity. Feng Honghe, president of Kunming Branch of TMB Bank, introduced that TMB Bank has established a representative office in Kunming in 1993 and upgraded it into a branch in 1996. "In addition to supporting Thai enterprises' investment in China, in recent years, we have also provided loans and financial services to Chinese enterprises, while actively supporting the settlement of local currencies between Thailand and China, and contributing to the sustainable development of the region."

Huo Xuelian, deputy secretary general of the Party Committee of Yunnan Normal University, shared the outcomes of the university's educational cooperation with Thailand. "As one of the earliest and the university with the largest number of volunteers dispatched to Thailand for international Chinese language education volunteer service, the university has signed cooperation agreements with 16 universities and educational institutions in Thailand, covering areas such as student training, teacher training, scientific research, academic exchanges, and cultural exchanges," said Huo Xuelian. Cultivating "major + Chinese and Thai language" composite talents, expanding the scale of Thai students, expanding cooperation in emerging fields such as the digital economy and artificial intelligence, and creating brand projects for people-to-people exchanges between China and Thailand are the directions in which Yunnan Normal University will focus its efforts to promote China-Thailand and Yunnan-Thailand cooperation.

With a series of preferential measures, such as visa-free travel, the people of Yunnan and Thailand enjoy more convenient and frequent exchanges. Over 350,000 Thai tourists visited Yunnan Province last year. “People-to-people exchanges are the cornerstone of consolidating the friendly relations between Thailand and China. Therefore, we have been continuously optimizing consular services, fully implementing the online electronic visa application system and upgrading the new Chinese interface, developing an online notarization and certification system, and regularly optimizing work processes,” said the Consulate.

Yunnan, which has a special mission to serve the national diplomatic situation and deepen pragmatic cooperation with Thailand in various fields, has established 5 pairs of international friendly provincial (municipal) relations with Thailand so far. Wang Yu, the executive vice president of the Yunnan People's Association for Foreign Friendship, said that under this framework, Thai local government organizations have sent delegations to participate in the China-South Asia Expo for many years, and have talked about friendship and development on important activity platforms such as the China International友好 City Conference and the Yunnan International友好 City Cooperation Week. Yunnan Province has implemented the "Heart to Heart, Yunnan Travel" and "Small but Beautiful" people's livelihood public welfare projects in Thailand for 3 consecutive years, building a bridge of "heart to heart" between the people of Yunnan and Thailand.

Today, seeing so many friends gather together to offer advice and suggestions for promoting the development of Thailand-China and Thailand-Yunnan relations, I feel honored and warmed. This is a great opportunity to strengthen the relationship between Thailand and Yunnan Province, said Paweewat, Consul General of Thailand in Kunming, during her speech. The Thai government attaches great importance to exchanges and cooperation with Yunnan Province, she said, adding that both sides should focus on making good use of the three mechanisms: the Thailand-China Yunnan Cooperation Working Group Meeting, the Thailand-Yunnan Education Cooperation Forum, and the Cooperative Mechanism between Friendly Cities. We should further inject strong and practical development momentum into Thailand-Yunnan relations and contribute to the construction of a community of shared future between Thailand and China.