Thailand’s prime minister has led an official visit to Chengdu in China’s Sichuan province, accompanied by a delegation of more than 100 leading Thai business organisations, to strengthen economic and trade ties between the two regions and officially open a new Board of Investment office in the city.
Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul travelled to Chengdu as part of the visit. On July 18, Anutin attended the China (Sichuan) Thailand Investment and Economic Cooperation Seminar 2026, where he delivered a keynote speech aimed at building investor confidence.
To energise the room, Anutin repeated the Chinese phrase “jiayou,” roughly meaning “keep going” or “add oil,” four times in a row, using it to encourage closer cooperation between Thailand and China.
Anutin also presided over the opening ceremony for the new Board of Investment office at the Thai Consulate General in Chengdu. The office is intended to support and connect businesses across western China that are looking to expand their investments into Thailand, reported MGR Online.
In another separate news, Thailand is positioning itself as the easiest entry point into a Southeast Asian market of more than 700 million people, using a high profile summit in Russia to make the pitch directly to investors.
Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul addressed the ASEAN-Russia Business Forum at the Special ASEAN-Russia Summit in Kazan, highlighting the kingdom’s infrastructure and logistics strengths. He pointed to data centres, semiconductors, the digital economy, clean energy, food production, healthcare and the green economy as sectors ripe for Russian investment.
He called for closer cooperation on connectivity, trade and investment, and backed ongoing free trade talks with the Eurasian Economic Union. Anutin also introduced a “3Rs” framework, Regionalism, Resilience and Relevance, aimed at strengthening regional security and tackling cybercrime and human trafficking.
He met Thai business executives in Russia and held a separate audience with the Sultan of Brunei on food security, energy and investment.
The story Anutin opens new BOI office in Chengdu as seen on Thaiger News.
