JAKARTA, May 25 -- Chinese Premier Li Qiang said on Sunday that China is ready to work with Indonesia to elevate political mutual trust and strategic coordination between the two countries to a higher level.
Li made the remarks while meeting with Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto during his official visit to the Southeast Asian nation.
The premier first conveyed cordial greetings from Chinese President Xi Jinping to Prabowo, noting that China and Indonesia are good neighbors and good partners.
Since the establishment of diplomatic relations 75 years ago, the two sides have supported each other and stood by each other, and their traditional friendship has remained firm and ever-relevant, Li added.
During Prabowo's China visit in November last year, the presidents of the two countries reached important consensus on building a China-Indonesia community with a shared future that has regional and global influence, which has taken bilateral ties to a new historical high and opened up broad prospects for cooperation, Li said.
China, Li said, is willing to work with Indonesia to adhere to the original aspiration of establishing diplomatic relations, carry forward the tradition of friendship, and enhance unity and cooperation.
He added that the Chinese side also stands ready to consolidate cooperation in the "five pillars" of politics, economy, people-to-people and cultural exchange, maritime affairs and security, jointly address risks and challenges, and better promote common development.
Li pointed out that China is willing to work with Indonesia to enhance the alignment of development strategies, and deepen high-quality Belt and Road cooperation, especially by optimizing and strengthening landmark projects.
He urged the two sides to further enhance the "golden brand" of the Jakarta-Bandung High-Speed Railway, and promote the construction of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Corridor and the "Two Countries, Twin Parks" project.
Li said both sides should enhance market connectivity and industrial collaboration, improve the level of trade and investment facilitation, and expand cooperation in areas such as finance, new energy, digital economy, artificial intelligence (AI), aerospace and the ocean.
China is willing to expand people-to-people and cultural exchanges with Indonesia, facilitate personnel exchanges, deepen cooperation in areas related to people's livelihood such as food and agriculture, poverty reduction and health, and bring more benefits to the two peoples, said the premier.
At present, the rise of unilateralism and protectionism has severely disrupted the international economic and trade order, Li noted, adding that confronting these risks and challenges, solidarity and cooperation remain the only viable path forward.
Li said that China stands ready to work with Indonesia and other developing countries to jointly uphold the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence and the Bandung Spirit, and implement the three major global initiatives.
He called for steadfastly upholding multilateralism and free trade, promoting an equal and orderly multipolar world and a universally beneficial and inclusive economic globalization, resolutely safeguarding common interests, and jointly advancing peace, stability and development in the region and the world at large.
For his part, Prabowo asked the Chinese premier to convey his sincere greetings to President Xi, and said that Indonesia and China share a long history of friendly exchanges and deep-rooted people-to-people friendship.
Noting that this year marks the 75th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two countries as well as the 70th anniversary of the Bandung Conference, Prabowo said that Indonesia is ready to take this opportunity to deepen the comprehensive strategic partnership with China, advance the building of an Indonesia-China community with a shared future, and jointly promote peace and development in Asia and the rest of the world.
Prabowo spoke highly of the fruitful progress in bilateral cooperation and expressed Indonesia's willingness to learn from China's successful experiences in poverty reduction and rural development.
He said Indonesia is ready to expand cooperation with China in agriculture, finance, infrastructure, green economy, AI and education, and upgrade industrial collaboration. He also expressed the hope that more Chinese enterprises invest and do business in Indonesia.
Indonesia is committed to implementing the consensus on joint maritime development with China, accelerating consultations on the Code of Conduct in the South China Sea, and jointly safeguarding peace and stability in the region, he said.
Indonesia looks forward to coordinating closely with China on multilateral platforms such as the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and BRICS, firmly supports multilateralism, opposes protectionism, and stands ready to work with China to uphold the common interests of developing countries and tackle global challenges, he added.
After the talks, the two leaders witnessed the signing of cooperation documents in areas concerning economic development policies, industrial and supply chain as well as finance.
Ahead of their talks, Prabowo held a welcome ceremony for Li at the Merdeka Palace.
