It is always the political will of every Thai leader to deepen the good relations between China and Thailand and peoples of the two nations for their common interests, Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra said in Bankok on Sunday.

"As the current prime minister, I am most enthusiastic to further expand the Thailand-China relationship in all areas," he told Xinhua through a written interview before his first visit to China as the head of the Thai government,which starts from Monday.

Recalling his pervious three visits to China in different status, the premier said, "in all the past visits to China, I had only one main purpose: to strengthen the relations between China and Thailand."

"I do not see anything that will be an obstacle to Thailand-China relations," he said.

The Thai leader pointed out that it is vital that the two countries should cooperate closely to keep norms and orders in the region and the world and now they are well-posed to achieve that.

Noting that the bilateral cooperation is sure to bring mutual benefits, he said, "in terms of economic cooperation and trade, Thailand and China can be mutually complementary."

Thaksin said the two countries need to maximize benefits in complementary areas and find ways to jointly develop common strengths in their competing aspects.

"Therefore, our future cooperation in economic matters and trade should be based on a common perspective that cooperation among us is the key and such shared perception will make it easier for us to deal with future problems," he said.

On the Taiwan Problem, the Thai leader said his country always upholds the One China policy.

"Reunification is an issue between China's mainland and Taiwan. Thailand supports peaceful reunification, and hopes that the relations between both sides of the Taiwan Straits will be constructive for the well-beings of all Chinese citizens as well as for all of the peoples in the East Asia region," the premier said.

"As for the 'One Country Two Systems' policy, it has proven to be successful in Hong Kong and Macao."

Asked about his views on China's imminent entry into the World Trade Organization (WTO), the Thai leader said he is confident that this will open up many opportunities for the region.

China's trade partners will be able to enjoy more trade in goods and services in the Chinese market, he said.

The premier predicted that in the long term, with a more standardized trade regime, China will develop into a leading trade nation and will provide opportunities for Thailand.

"Thailand fervently hopes to work closely with China in further strengthening mutual trade as well as enhancing economic ties and cooperation within Asia, in order to cope with the larger scale of opportunities and challenges of globalization in this new century," he noted.

As one of the countries which have supported China during its bid for hosting the 2008 Olympic Games, Thaksin said, "Thailand believes that China will excel in the preparations as well as in the competition and also believes that China will impress all the participants to this global sporting event."

"I am confident that when I arrive in Beijing on the 27th of August, the city will look different than the last time I saw it, as the city has become more and more prosperous," he said.

Concluding the achievements of his government in its first six months, the Thai leader said the new administration had focused on the following aspects, namely helping the grass-root people, enhancing competitiveness of export, reforming the public sector, suppressing illicit drugs and improving ties with neighboring countries.

(Xinhua News Agency 08/26/2001)