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China-Thailand Trade Pushed
Chinese and Thai companies should expand bilateral trade through diversification of trading forms, said a top trade official Thursday.
Bartering, for example, should be adopted to supplement existing trade forms, said Chong Quan, a vice-director of the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Co-operation (MOFTEC).
Chong encouraged Chinese and Thai companies to be flexible to promote bilateral trade.
Chong spoke at the opening ceremony of Thai Week 2000 held at the National Agricultural Exhibition Hall in Beijing.
The exhibition, ending July 16, is co-sponsored by the Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Thai embassy to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Thailand and China on July 1, 1975.
Some 50 Thai companies and institutions took part in the exhibition.
Thai Deputy Foreign Minister Sukhumbhand Paribatra expected the exhibition to enhance mutual understanding and promote economic co-operation.
Chong welcomed Thai companies to invest in China, especially in central and western areas.
Development of these areas is expected to provide favourable policies for foreign investors, he said.
Thailand ranked 18th among foreign investors in China in terms of contracted capital last year, according to statistics from the MOFTEC.
By the end of April, China approved about 2,800 Thai projects in China involving contract volume of US$4.8 billion.
Trade between China and Thailand has been steadily increasing in recent years.
Trade rocketed 60.2 per cent to US$2.4 billion in the first five months of this year.
Even under the great pressure of the Southeast Asia financial crisis, bilateral trade between the two countries reported a US$46 million increase to US$3.6 billion in 1998, according to the MOFTEC.
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