At the invitation of Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul, Premier of the State Council Li Qiang will pay an official visit to Thailand from November 13 to 15.

At the invitation of President Ferdinand Romualdez Marcos Jr. of the Philippines, the rotating chair of ASEAN, Premier of the State Council Li Qiang will attend the 29th China-ASEAN Summit in Manila, the Philippines from November 15 to 16.

CCTV: To follow up on the announcement of Premier Li’s official visit to Thailand, how does China see the current bilateral relations and what’s China’s expectation of the visit?

Guo Jiakun: China and Thailand are friendly neighbors and a community with a shared future, with a family-like bond between the two peoples. In recent years, the historic exchange of visits by President Xi Jinping and King Maha Vajiralongkorn Phra Vajiraklaochaoyuhua has jointly guided the sustained development of bilateral relations, with ever-deepening political mutual trust and fruitful practical cooperation delivering tangible benefits to the two peoples.

Through the upcoming visit, China looks forward to working with Thailand to carry forward the traditional friendship, strengthen strategic communication, deepen mutually beneficial cooperation, and strive for further progress in building a China-Thailand community with a shared future to bolster respective modernization and contribute to peace, stability, development and prosperity in the region.

CNR: To follow up on your announcement that Premier Li Qiang will attend the China-ASEAN Summit, what’s China’s expectation of this summit?

Guo Jiakun: This year marks the fifth anniversary of the China-ASEAN comprehensive strategic partnership. Over the past five years, with guidance from Chinese and ASEAN leaders, cooperation has been robust and fruitful and stayed at the forefront of the region, delivering benefits to all our countries and peoples and contributing to peace, stability and prosperity in the region.

The world is in a new period of turbulence and transformation. People in the region desire peace, development and prosperity more than anything else. China looks to work with ASEAN countries at the summit to strengthen solidarity and mutual trust, build consensus on cooperation, bring into force the China-ASEAN Free Trade Area 3.0 Upgrade Protocol as early as possible, and deepen cooperation in AI, digital economy, energy security, connectivity, poverty reduction, development and so on to jointly build a peaceful, safe and secure, prosperous, beautiful and amicable home, and provide greater stability and certainty for the peace and development in the region. 

Reuters: Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said on Tuesday that he would stress to the Chinese leader at the upcoming APEC summit that China and other countries should not interfere in Canada’s internal affairs. Does the foreign ministry have any comment on the prime minister’s remarks?

Guo Jiakun: China upholds the principle of non-interference in other countries’ internal affairs. We have never had any interest in interfering in Canada’s internal affairs.

AFP: I wonder if you could tell us if the Chinese leader is expected to meet Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi next week at APEC. And if so, what would they discuss?

Guo Jiakun: As this year’s APEC host, China earnestly fulfills its duties and stands ready to work with all parties for the full success of the APEC “China Year.” 

As to China-Japan relations, we have made clear our position more than once.

Reuters: U.S. lawmakers on Tuesday renewed calls for tighter restrictions on China’s access to advanced AI chips, after allegations concerning NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang. Does the foreign ministry have any comment on these remarks?

Guo Jiakun: Our position on U.S. chip exports to China is consistent.