At the 28th meeting of the National Assembly on 5th August 2011, 296 MPs appointed Yingluck Shinawatra as the new Prime Minister of Thailand.
The Chinese Premier, Wen Jiabao, was swift to congratulate Ms Shinawatra:
“On behalf of the Chinese Government and in my own name, I wish to extend to Your Excellency the warmest congratulations and best wishes.”
“The exchanges and cooperation between our two countries in a whole range of fields has been deepening in a comprehensive manner, ever since the establishment of diplomatic relationship between our two countries 36 years ago.”
Shinawatra is a member of the Pheu Thai party which won a landslide victory with 265 out of the 500 parliamentary seats in the general election on 3rd July 2011. A coalition government was formed with four small parties resulting in a 60 percent majority in the lower house.
