Thai diplomat on China, BRI and the shortened Negative List

Chiyawan Chongvatana, Commercial Minister of the Royal Thai Embassy in China, recently talked with China Daily about China's achievements, the negative list regulating foreign investment and the Belt and Road Initiative.

What impresses Chongvatana most is China's achievements in poverty reduction, which she believes are recognized worldwide. She is also amazed at how China applies technological innovation in industry, and, more meaningfully, in people's daily lives, where Chongvatana considers the true value of innovation lies.

Having noticed the shortened negative list, the diplomat said it means fewer limitations for foreign investment and bigger markets for foreigners doing business in China.

Speaking of the Belt and Road Initiative, Chongvatana said economic corridors have been forged under the framework, along which continents have been linked up, and investment and people-to-people exchange enhanced. According to her, infrastructure cooperation between participant countries is an obvious example that has been increased by the initiative.

She mentioned the high-speed railway connecting Bangkok with Vientiane in Laos, constructed in the context of the BRI. It is one of the most important projects between Thailand and China, Chongvatana said. And it's a milestone that proves the BRI is in the interest of Southeast Asia, she added.