MONTREUX, Jan. 22 -- Chinese and Indonesian foreign ministers on Wednesday called for further strengthening relations between the two nations during their talks in Montreux, Switzerland.

Meeting with his Indonesian counterpart Marty Natalegawa, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi recalled Chinese President Xi Jinping's October visit to Indonesia, during which the two sides agreed to establish a comprehensive strategic partnership and charted the future course of the bilateral ties.

Wang said this year marks the beginning of the work to build that partnership, and the two countries need to achieve more gains through pragmatic cooperations in all fields.

Calling regional cooperation a key part of China-Indonesia partnership, he said China is ready to work with Indonesia to advance China's relations with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and intends to focus on the following five priority areas this year:

Advancing works toward the signing of the China-ASEAN Friendship and Cooperation Treaty; successfully holding China-ASEAN Year of Cultural Exchange; starting negotiations over updating the China-ASEAN Free Trade Areae; making preparations for creating the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank; and effectively using China-ASEAN Maritime Cooperation Fund to build "the Maritime Silk Road of the 21st Century."

China always regards its ties with ASEAN a top priority and that relationship is enjoying sound growth, Wang said, adding that it is important to prevent certain negative factors from affecting the overall two-way ties.

For his part, Marty said that Indonesia have close relations with China and views China's active participation in intra-ASEAN cooperation with appreciation and gratitude.

Indonesia, he said, is willing to communicate closely with China and take practical steps to boost bilateral relations, promote China-ASEAN cooperation and safeguard regional peace and stability.

The two foreign ministers also exchanged views on the Syria crisis and some other issues.