Interview: Xi's visit to lift China-Indonesia ties to new level: Chinese ambassador

English>>Foreign Affairs

Editor's Pick

Interview: Xi's visit to lift China-Indonesia ties to new level: Chinese ambassador

(Xinhua) 15:00, September 30, 2013

Email|Print|Comments

twitter

facebook

Sina Microblog

JAKARTA, Sept. 30 -- Chinese President Xi Jinping's upcoming visit to Indonesia will elevate the strategic partnership between the two countries to a new level, Chinese ambassador to Indonesia Liu Jianchao has said.

In a recent interview with Xinhua, Liu said he believed Xi's visit would, through joint efforts by both countries, improve strategic mutual trust, enhance all-around cooperation and mark a milestone in the development of the China-Indonesia ties.

Xi will start a state visit to Indonesia on Wednesday and attend the 21st informal economic leaders' meeting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Forum (APEC) in the Indonesian resort island of Bali.

Indonesia is the first Southeast Asian country Xi visits since he assumed the presidency in March, reflecting the country's important role in China's diplomacy with neighboring countries, Liu said.

The two leaders will exchange in-depth views on the future development of the China-Indonesia strategic partnership and major international and regional issues of common concern, Liu added.

The ambassador said bilateral relations have seen rapid growth with new achievements in friendly cooperation since the establishment of the China-Indonesia strategic partnership in 2005.

The two countries enjoy frequent high-level exchanges and smooth dialogue mechanisms in such areas as politics, diplomacy, economy and defense while expanding cooperation in investment, trade and economy, Liu said.

With bilateral trade reaching 66.22 billion U.S. dollars last year, China has become Indonesia's second biggest trade partner. Bilateral trade in the first half of 2013 hit 33.84 billion dollars, up 4.6 percent from the same period of last year, he said.

Currently Chinese non-financial direct investment in Indonesia has exceeded 2.2 billion dollars, covering oil, natural gas, mineral resources, household appliances and telecommunications, said the diplomat.

Liu highlighted cooperation in infrastructure construction, which has played a positive and important role in the development of Indonesian economy and society.

Besides, China and Indonesia have deepened their strategic partnership, with smooth development of cooperation in emerging areas such as aerospace, ocean, health, science and technology as well as agriculture, forestry and fishery, Liu said.

People-to-people exchanges also become increasingly close with more than 200 exchange projects annually, he said, adding that currently a major part of foreign tourists in Indonesia are from China.

From a global perspective, China and Indonesia maintain close communication and coordination under multilateral frameworks such as APEC, the Group of 20, the World Trade Organization and the United Nations, Liu said.

He added that such cooperation promoted global multilateralism, amend international political and economic order and safeguard common interests of developing countries.

However, Liu noted that China and Indonesia should increase trade and investment as bilateral trade only ranks the fourth among trade between China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries.

In addition, the number of more than one million mutual visits by the two peoples is relatively small compared to the combined 1.6 billion population of the two countries, while cooperation in some emerging areas is still at the beginning stage.

Liu suggested the two countries enhance strategic planning, deepen pragmatic cooperation such as building economic and trade cooperation zones and enhance exchanges between young students and media outlets.

On the China-ASEAN relations, Liu said in the past ten years that witnessed a golden decade of bilateral cooperation, the two sides have developed comprehensive, profound, active and close bilateral ties.

Relations between China and Indonesia, the largest ASEAN country, form an important part of the China-ASEAN relationship, said Liu, adding that China will make joint efforts with Indonesia to contribute to building the next 10 years into a diamond decade of China-ASEAN cooperation.