Thai PM pledges closer China ties

BEIJING, April 18 (Xinhua) -- Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra on Wednesday pledged closer ties with China under the newly forged "comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership."

Yingluck, who is visiting China for the first time as Thailand's prime minister, said in a speech at the party school of the Communist Party of China Central Committee that the creation of the partnership meets the common interests of both countries.

"Forging a comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership in itself shows the mutual confidence, trust and friendly respect between the two countries. We are obliged to seek strategic cooperation opportunities to achieve win-win results. Thailand will learn advanced science and technologies from China on express railways, resource recycling and water resource management," she said.

Yingluck arrived in Beijing earlier on Tuesday for a three-day official visit. The first female prime minister of Thailand was accompanied by executives from about 100 Thai companies.

According to Chinese Customs statistics, China is both the largest export market and second-largest import source for Thailand. The two countries' trade volume hit 64.7 billion U.S. dollars in 2011.