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BEIJING, Nov. 3-- China and Thailand have long engaged in friendly relations and trade cooperation and are looking forward to further development in their ties alongside strengthening regional cooperation. Bilateral trade of the two countries stood at 66.4 billion U.S. dollars in the first nine months of this year, up 1 percent from last year. China's imports from and exports to Thailand in the same period rose 0.8 percent and 1.2 percent, respectively. China's trade ties with Thailand have been steady over the years, buoyed by a long friendly relationship between the two countries and the China-ASEAN Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA), said Yuan Bo, a researcher with the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation under the Ministry of Commerce. The two countries lifted tariffs on fruit and vegetable trade with each other since 2003 in accordance with relevant preferential tariffs treatment under the CAFTA, seven years earlier than the eventual founding of the China-ASEAN free trade zone. The zero tariff pushed Thai fruit and vegetable exports to China in 2018 to 1.93 billion U.S. dollars, up by more than 10 fold from those in 2002, according to Thai media reports. Investment between the two countries is also burgeoning. Thai companies were among the first foreign firms to invest in China at the dawn of China's opening-up, while China is becoming a major source of investment to Thailand in recent years. | 
