BANGKOK, April 9 (Xinhuanet) -- The forthcoming visit to the People's Republic of China by Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra is aimed at accelerating the planned Chinese-Thai free trade area, said a senior Thai official at the Business Economics Department.

　　Department Director-General Boontipa Simasakul said that top officials of the two countries were set to discuss trade cooperation issues during the visit to Zhuhai, Guangdong Province of China, by the premier on April 11-12, the Thai News Agency reported Tuesday.

　　"This trip serves as the first formal discussion as the premiers of the two countries held a preliminary talk last year. The Thai leadership wants to accelerate the trade cooperation because China has high potential for trade growth and opens up local markets," Boontipa said.

　　"Should the planned free trade area be successfully establishedswiftly, both countries would benefit because Thailand is in the middle of Southeast Asia and so can be a center for goods distribution," she added.

　　Boontipa said it was likely that the successful establishment of the Chinese-Thai free trade area would be sooner than that of the ASEAN-Chinese area, which is expected to take 10 years, because the talks involved only two countries.

　　Thailand would implement the establishment of Chinese-Thai and ASEAN-Chinese free trade areas at the same time, she noted.

　　The set-up of the Chinese-Thai free trade area, if successfullyimplemented, would increase the volume of trade between the two countries because obstacles including high import tariffs and trade quotas would be eliminated, she said. Enditem