China, Thailand pledge joint efforts to boost regional cooperation
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E-mail Xinhua, April 19, 2012
China and Thailand pledged Thursday to make joint efforts to boost regional cooperation in east Asia as Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra concluded her first official visit to Beijing.
"The Chinese side reaffirms its full and continued support for ASEAN-led regional cooperation," says a joint statement issued on Yingluck's departure from Beijing.
The statement says Thailand, as the incoming coordinating country for ASEAN-China relations, pledges to work closely with China to promote ASEAN-China strategic relations and will continue to work closely with China in order to realize region-wide benefits.
Both sides will continue to strengthen coordination and deepen existing cooperation under the ASEAN-China and ASEAN+3 frameworks in order to realize the long-term goal of building an East Asian community, the statement says.
In the statement, the Chinese side reiterates its support for Thailand's initiative to develop the ASEAN+3 Partnership on Connectivity and looks forward to working closely with Thailand to realize this initiative.
According to the statement, the two sides appreciate the consensus reached in July 2011 on a guideline for the implementation of the Declaration of Conduct of the Parties in South China Sea (DOC), as well as cooperation carried out within the framework of the DOC between China and ASEAN member states.
Both sides encourage all parties to take the tenth anniversary of the DOC as an opportunity to comprehensively implement the DOC and carry out cooperation in order to turn the South China Sea into a "sea of peace, friendship and cooperation," according to the statement.
At the invitation of Premier Wen Jiabao, Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra paid a three-day visit to China from Tuesday to Thursday.
