China and Thailand signed a pact on a joint action plan for strategic cooperation yesterday, setting out detailed development goals for bilateral collaboration.

Visiting Thai Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont and several of his key cabinet members met with President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao yesterday, and held talks to boost bilateral investment and trade.

Calling Thailand a close friend and trusted partner, Hu said China has always respected the choice of the Thai people and will not change the policy of developing the Sino-Thai friendship despite the changes in the two countries and across the rest of the world.

Surayud's first official visit to China as prime minister was supposed to be a four-day affair. But it was cut to two days because of security fears before an expected landmark court ruling tomorrow that could affect the future of two major Thai political parties.

Hu said the joint action plan on strategic cooperation will provide an impetus to bilateral relations, and hoped that the two sides work closely to implement the tasks proposed in the document.

During the meeting with his Thai guests, Wen said the signing of the joint document will have a positive impact on other ASEAN member states.

The two countries should maintain the frequency of high-level exchanges and speed up efforts to increase the two-way trade volume to $50 billion by 2010, he said.

The premier urged Thailand to boost bilateral trade, especially through the neighboring provinces of the two countries.

Surayud told Wen that his country, too, hopes to enhance cooperation with China in the fields of transportation, shipping and logistics.

Also, he encouraged Chinese enterprises to help in the construction of infrastructure and industrial parks in Thailand.

The two prime ministers also witnessed the signing of an agreement on the mutual recognition of academic degrees in higher education.