The Chinese Government has supported its businesses’ plans to import 1 million tonns of rice a year from Thailand for an indefinite period, according to Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra.


Speaking at a press conference in Bangkok in October 13 after her talks with Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, she said China once agreed to buy 1 million tonnes of rice for five years and now it adjusted to take the same volume in a year.


Previously, on October 11, Li Keqiang said apart from purchasing rice, China will also import 200,000 tonnes of rubber from Thailand in the next five years.


The same day, China’s state-owned trading house, COFCO Co. Ltd, signed a memorandum of understanding with Thailand’s private businesses in Bangkok.


According to Cookiat Ophaswongse, an honorary president of the Thai Rice Exporters Association, deals will be done on a case-by-case basis between China's trading house and Thai firms at market prices.

According to the Thai Ministry of Commerce, the country has stockpiled a record volume of 16 million tonnes of rice, more than double its exports in last year and around 40 percent of the annual rice global trade.-VNA