The signing was made as the Thai deputy prime minister Somkid Jatusripitak was leading a top level delegation to visit China this week.

Dr Somkid disclosed that four agreements were signed by the Chinese and the Thai governments at the 5th Meeting of the Joint Committee on Trade, Investment and Economic Cooperation between China and Thailand (JC) held in Beijing.

The agreements were aimed to jointly develop the economic strategic partnership, he said.

This would include the plan to set the target to double their two-way trade from 60 billion US dollars in five years to 120 billion US dollars by 2020, while also extending their five-year joint economic development plan and set up a joint action plan which are focused on major areas including basic infrastructure projects, industrial clusters digital, science and technology, innovations and energy.

Dr Somkid said the two countries have also agreed to expand the bilateral trade on agricultural products.

As for the Innovation Hub project, China has also expressed its readiness to jointly develop and produce the new innovation with Thailand.

Besides, the two sides have officially signed a memorandum of understanding on Thai-China railway construction project 2016-2022.

Deputy Prime Minister Somkid Jatusripitak leads Thai road-show in China

The road-show tour from December 7-12 takes the delegation to Shenzhen, Hangzhou and Peking.

During the road-show, Dr Somkid said an agreement would be signed with Alibaba Group to develop E-Commerce in Thailand.

He stated that Alibaba has agreed to join Thailand in investing in and providing support for the technological developments in the country.

This will start at the lowest grassroots level moving upwards to SMEs to support greater involvement in E-Commerce.

The final goal will be geared towards providing the country with the necessary tools to compete globally, he said.

Of vital importance is supporting manpower development towards greater technological competency in accordance with the Thailand 4.0 national plan.