closer relations with Indonesia announced

context: Premier Li Qiang's September visit to Indonesia is a follow-up to President Xi Jinping's meeting with President Joko Widodo in Chengdu in July 2023, when the two presidents reportedly agreed on fostering cooperation and jointly building a ‘Community of Shared Future’. Indonesia is the largest country in ASEAN by population and land area. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, ASEAN has overtaken the EU and the US as the PRC’s largest trading partner, a trend likely to continue as Beijing commits further to developing RCEP (Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership) and BRI (Belt and Road Initiative), ASEAN being a key member of both.

Premier Li Qiang 李强 visited Indonesia on 8 Sep 2023 and met with President Joko Widodo in Jakarta. Following up on the earlier consensus between the two countries reached in July 2023 to strengthen cooperation, the two sides signed bilateral documents on cooperation in industry, agriculture, fisheries, e-commerce, and scitech innovation. Li stated that the PRC is committed to 

  • deepening strategic trust with Indonesia, supporting each other's major interests and concerns, addressing risks and challenges together, and giving full play to high-level dialogue and cooperation mechanisms
  • expanding pragmatic cooperation 
    • related to the Jakarta-Bandung High-Speed Railway
    • developing the 'Regional Comprehensive Economic Corridor' and 'Two Countries, Twin Parks' industrial cooperation as flagship projects for the BRI
    • implementing the RCEP Agreement
      • expanding imports of Indonesian commodities and high-quality ag and fishery products
      • encouraging Chinese companies to invest in Indonesia
    • supporting the construction of Indonesia's new capital
    • working with Indonesia to accelerate 'new engines' of growth such as the digital economy and green development
    • strengthening cooperation in ag, healthcare, youth, education, culture, tourism and other fields
  • multilateral collaboration 
    • continuing to promote the 'Bandung Spirit and adhering to 'true multilateralism'
      • pushing global governance in a more just and equitable direction
      • jointly implementing the PRC's Global Development Initiative, Global Security Initiative and Global Civilisation Initiative at bilateral, regional and multilateral levels