China and Thailand aim to raise their bilateral trade to 50 billion USD by 2010, the Executive Chairman of the Chinese Business Association Lu Junqing has said.

Bilateral trade between China and Thailand started 34 years ago and by last year the volume of trade between the two countries was valued at 36 billion USD, the Xinhua news agency quoted the chairman as saying at the Thai-Chinese Business Forum held in Thailand on July 27-28.

The Secretary-General of Thailand's Board of Investment (BOI) Atchaka Sriboonruang Brimble said that over 200 out of 300 Chinese businesspeople participating in the forum already had investment plans in Thailand.

It is estimated that over the next few years the value of Chinese investment projects applying for BOI privileges will rise to 20 billion baht (around 588.7 million USD) a year, she added./.