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maintaining diplomatic, political and economic relations, which in turn support and develop cultural awareness between the countries.Concerning education, Prof Fu admitted that at first he was obligated to study Thai in Thailand, but in 45 years it has served him well and he was lucky to have had the opportunity. After teaching Thai in China and Chinese in Thailand for many years, he is now a key figure in nurturing Thai-Chinese relations.Cooperation in education dates back 500 years, the professor said, since the Ming Dynasty invited an emissary from Siam to come and teach Siamese. In 1951, the first Thai Department in China was established at Peking University, following by the International Studies University in 1964 and Guangzhou University in 1990. Thai continues to increase in popularity among the Chinese, andthere are now over 60 Thai depart- ments in China, with a Thailand Cultural Centre in the works.The Siamese first picked up Chinese from Chinese immigrants, and many loanwords are still com- monly used in Thai. Classics of Chinese literature were translated and became widely popular, especially The Three Kingdoms and Journey to the West, while The Four Reigns, written by former Thai prime minister Kukrit Pramoj, was translated into Chinese and also became popular there. The first Chinese department in Thailand was at Chulalongkorn University, followed by a Chinese library and the Confucius Institute there. Teachers have come from China since 2005 and many language experts are still coming to teach. At present there are over 3,000 Chinese depart- ments, schools and institutes in Thailand, with over 1 million Thaistudents studying Chinese. In 2014, over 20,000 Thai students studied in China and over 20,000 Chinese students also came to Thailand, and they comprise the biggest group of foreign students in Thailand.Ambassador Ning assured that there will be more student exchange programmes every year. Thai teachers should undergo training and courses in China to improve programmes in Thailand. Although the number of students has increased, he said the number of the fluently bilingual is still low, so there should be focus on improving quality as well as quantity.Prof Fu agreed that of the many students learning Thai and Chinese, few become experts. Education can improve relations between the two countries, however, and language is the key to communication.In terms of the economy, China opened up in 1979, later than mostElite+ 65