Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Thai Foreign Minister Parnpree Bahiddha-Nukara shake hands during the signing ceremony of a mutual visa exemption agreement in Bangkok, Thailand on January 28 (Photo: Reuters).
Under new regulations effective from March 1, Thai or Chinese passport holders can enter and stay for up to 30 days in the other country without a visa.
The exemption will take effect after the Lunar New Year holiday in February, a peak period for Chinese outbound tourism, but also coincides with Thailand's Songkran festival in April.
The two countries signed the agreement during Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi's visit to Thailand.
On January 28, Foreign Minister Wang Yi promised to "drastically increase the number of Chinese tourists visiting Thailand" after the visa exemption.
Mr. Wang said that both sides should "oppose political games of winning and losing" amid the "turbulent international environment."
Thailand is counting on tourists from China to reach its target of at least 30 million arrivals by 2024. Before the Covid-19 pandemic, China accounted for about a quarter of the 40 million tourists to Thailand.
Foreign Minister Wang Yi said Beijing and Bangkok also pledged to speed up the construction of the China-Thailand railway and cooperate in combating transnational crime.
Meanwhile, Mr. Parnpree revealed that China and Thailand have agreed to hold consultations between their foreign ministers at least once a year.
The two countries also signed an agreement on poultry exports from Thailand, with China pledging to import specialty agricultural exports and support Chinese companies to invest in Thailand, as well as cooperation on electric vehicles, digital economy and green technology.
Source
Comment (0)