"There is no change in the Chinese policy towards Indonesia. A number of conditions have made Indonesia`s position important to China. China even wants stronger bilateral relations," Chinese Ambassador to Indonesia Liu Jianchao said.Jakarta (ANTARA News) - The Chinese new government under the leadership of President Xi Jinping will not change its policy towards Indonesia but continue to maintain its strategic partnership cooperation with Jakarta, a Chinese envoy said.
"There is no change in the Chinese policy towards Indonesia. A number of conditions have made Indonesia`s position important to China. China even wants stronger bilateral relations," Chinese Ambassador to Indonesia Liu Jianchao told ANTARA on Thursday.
He said that Indonesia and China shared a common target in creating peace and prosperity in the Asian region in the coming ten years.
The Chinese envoy said that Indonesia and China had the same target to become a global economic strength.
Indonesia had set itself a target of becoming one of the big ten in the global economy in 2025 while China has targeted itself to grow as a new economy in 2020, the ambassador said.
"All this has necessitated Indonesia and China to build closer cooperation in order that they would be able to achieve their respective target," Liu Jianchao said.
According to Liu Jianchao, who is a former Chinese ambassador to the Philippines, there are four sectors that become the attention of China in developing its relations with Indonesia.
The four sectors consisted of energy and mining, investment, manufacturing and infrastructure.
China is also exploring a number of projects in the handling of floods and traffic management in Indonesia.
"Trade cooperation between the two countries also developed well. We are aware of the fact that cooperation in the economic field would not be enough. Cooperation in the fields of security, maritime and politics, particularly the creation of peace and stability in the region, needs to be increased," he said.
On the interest of Chinese investors in Indonesia, Liu who is also a former Chinese foreign ministry spokesman said that there was an increasing trend that could be observed.
He mentioned a number of indicators that were supportive to the increasing trend such as better services, stability and fast response to investors` complaints.
The ambassador said that four Chinese major banks had opened branches in Indonesia, while there were only two Indonesian banks which had opened branches in China,namely Bank Mandiri bank and Bank BNI bank.
In 2011, Indonesia-China trade volume totaled US$60 billion. It rose to US$66 billion in 2012. The two countries have set a target of two-way trade at US$80 billion in 2015.(*)
Editor: Heru Purwanto
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