China and Indonesia Sign Trade Deals Amid Closer Strategic Ties

Key Highlights

• China wants to increase cooperation with Indonesia under Belt and Road Initiative, Li says
• From Jakarta, he will head to Malaysia for the ASEAN-GCC-China Economic Summit
• China and Indonesia sign 12 agreements to boost trade and strategic cooperation.

After Chinese Premier Li Qiang met with Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto in Jakarta, the two countries inked a number of agreements on Sunday to strengthen trade relations.Li began a three-day visit to the Indonesian capital on Saturday.

Prabowo welcomed him with a guard of honor at the Presidential Palace on Sunday morning, where they watched as 12 memoranda on banking, investment, sovereign wealth fund collaboration, industry, supply chains, tourism, the economy, and health were signed.“I reaffirm our commitment to strengthen this partnership with the People’s Republic of China, We view this relationship as bringing benefits not only to our two countries but also to the entire Asian region and possibly even the world,” Prabowo said during the meeting, as quoted by his office.

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The US global trade war and the growing geopolitical competition between Washington and Beijing, which has recently seen China's top leaders expand their regional outreach and involvement with Southeast Asian nations, are the backdrops of the visit. China is "ready to work with Indonesia to increase alignment of development strategies and this initiative aims deepen high-quality Belt and Road cooperation," according to Li, who made this statement during discussions with Prabowo, according to Chinese state news agency Xinhua. Beijing started the multibillion-dollar Belt and Road Initiative in 2013 as a way to link China with the rest of Asia, Europe, and Africa through large port, energy, and road projects.