President Hu Jintao
arrived in Bangkok on Friday to kick off a three-nation tour which
will also include visits to Australia and New Zealand.
"China is willing to
push the overall bilateral ties with Thailand, which are based on
good neighborliness and mutual trust, to a higher level,'' Hu said
in a speech at the airport.
In his meeting with Thai
King Bhumibol Adulyadej and Queen Sirikit on Friday, Hu said China
and Thailand are close neighbors and reliable partners who have
forged a brotherhood based on mutual respect, sincere treatment and
mutual assistance over the years.
The Thai King said he
was pleased to see that bilateral ties across the board are closer
and smoother than any time in the history.
Prior to Hu's visit, the
Chinese government has sent two pandas to the Thailand for a
decade-long exchange in celebration of the Thai King's
birthday.
The Chinese president
also met with Uthai Pimchaichon, president of National Assembly of
Thailand on Friday. Both sides agreed that closer bilateral
parliamentary exchanges are conducive to the enhancement of mutual
understanding and traditional friendship between the two
peoples.
Hu will also attend the
11th Economic Leaders' Meeting of the Asia-Pacific Economic
Cooperation (APEC) in Bangkok on October 20-21.
Officially launched in
1989, APEC is the premier forum facilitating economic growth,
cooperation, trade and investment in the Asia-Pacific
region.
Hu is expected to meet
US President George W. Bush, Russian President Vladimir Putin,
President of the Republic of Korea Roh Moo-hyun and Japanese Prime
Minister Junichiro Koizumi on the sidelines of the APEC Economic
Leaders' Meeting.
The 21 member economies
of APEC account for a combined GDP of US$19 trillion and 47 percent
of world trade. Representing the most economically dynamic region
in the world, APEC has generated nearly 70 percent of global
economic growth in its first 10 years.
In 1994 at Bogor,
Indonesia, leaders of the APEC member economies adopted the "Bogor
Goals" of free and open trade and investment for developed
economies by 2010 and for developing economies by 2020.
Thailand, host of the
2003 APEC summit, set the central theme for this year as "A World
of Differences: Partnership for the Future.''
Bringing together
individual strengths of all APEC members to raise regional economic
prosperity and making a meaningful contribution towards the World
Trade Organization process are the overarching goals of this year's
APEC meeting.
As the APEC region moves
towards the Bogor Goals the diversity of the APEC region has been
identified as its strength for the future.
(China Daily October 18,
2003)