EMBRACING A NEW ERA OF COOPERATION

By Wang Fengjuan

Chinese Premier’s Indonesia visit cements bilateral ties and partnership between China and ASEAN

Seven years after his last visit to Indonesia, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang arrived in Jakarta on May 6 for a threeday official visit to the Southeast Asian country. Indonesia was the first stop on Li’s first overseas trip since the new cabinet took office in March.

When attending the launch ceremony for celebrations marking the 15th anniversary of the strategic partnership between China and ASEAN,Premier Li delivered a keynote speech at the ASEAN Secretariat in Jakarta, noting that China’s development would bring greater opportunities to the world and that China wishes to work with ASEAN to build a closer community with a shared future,forge a better tomorrow for China-ASEAN cooperation and write a new chapter of China-ASEAN cooperation.

China-Indonesia Ties on the Fast Lane

During his visit, Premier Li Keqiang also attended the Indonesia-China Business Summit and delivered a keynote speech in which he stressed that Indonesia is a major developing country with important significance as a representative of emerging market economies.

This year marks the fifth anniversary of the establishment of the China-Indonesia comprehensive strategic partnership. Over the past five years, with bilateral cooperation continuously deepening in three major areas—political security,economics and trade, and people-to-people and cultural exchange—China-Indonesia relations have merged into a fast lane of development.

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang(standing left)joins Indonesian President Joko Widodo to witness the signing of cooperation documents after their talks at the presidential palace in Bogor,Indonesia on May 7.

Mutual trust has been cemented in political security.In recent years, both sides have expanded cooperation in antiterrorism, law enforcement and defense. Premier Li’s Indonesia visit will further consolidate mutual trust between the two sides, propel mutually beneficial cooperation under the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative and boost peopleto-people bonds to promote bilateral practical cooperation to new levels in fields of political security, economics and trade,and people-to-people and cultural exchange.

Trade ties between China and Indonesia have exhibited vigorous growth and achieved remarkable fruits. China has remained Indonesia’s largest trading partner for seven consecutive years. In 2017,bilateral trade volume reached US$63.3 billion, a year-onyear growth of 18.3 percent.With the Chinese mainland’s investment in Indonesia topping US$3.4 billion last year, up 30.8 percent year-on-year, China has remained Indonesia’s third largest source of foreign direct investment for two consecutive years. The alignment of China’s Belt and Road Initiative with Indonesia’s “Global Maritime Fulcrum” vision has forged a group of landmark projects including Jakarta-Bandung highspeed railway, a comprehensive industrial park and Indonesia’s regional comprehensive economic corridors.

People-to-people and cultural exchange between the two sides began to flourish. For two consecutive years, China has remained the largest source of tourists for Indonesia, which welcomed some 2.06 million visits from Chinese mainland tourists last year. In 2015, China and Indonesia established a cultural exchange mechanism at the vice-premier level, aiming to improve bilateral exchange and cooperation in fields of education,science and technology, culture,public health, physical fitness,media and youth development.The first such mechanism China established with a developing country along the Belt and Road, this initiative represents a significant milestone. The cultural exchange mechanism has already become an important platform to serve pragmatic cooperation between the two sides in the field of people-to-people and cultural exchange, fuel the development of bilateral relations and play a demonstrative and lead role in promoting cultural exchange between China and countries along the Belt and Road.

A New Era

This year marks the 15th anniversary of the China-ASEAN strategic partnership as well as the China-ASEAN Year of Innovation which have created tremendous opportunities for overall upgrading of bilateral relations. Since China and ASEAN established a strategic partnership in 2003,a comprehensive, multilevel and multifaceted cooperation structure has taken shape,enabling both sides to conduct joint efforts to promote regional stability and prosperity under the most dynamic partnership in the region.

China wishes to work with ASEAN to build a closer community with a shared future, forge a better tomorrow for China-ASEAN cooperation and write a new chapter of China-ASEAN cooperation.

In 2017, bilateral trade volume reached US$63.3 billion, a year-onyear growth of 18.3 percent.

With the Chinese mainland’s investment in Indonesia topping US$3.4 billion last year, up 30.8 percent yearon-year, China has remained Indonesia’s third largest source of foreign direct investment for two consecutive years.

China has remained the largest source of tourists for Indonesia, which welcomed some 2.06 million visits from Chinese mainland tourists last year

The past 15 years have seen constant improvement of bilateral cooperation in political security dialogue, defense and nontraditional security issues. Today,China and ASEAN countries are working together to ensure effective implementation of the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea(DOC) and advance formulation of a Code of Conduct (COC) for the South China Sea to maintain the stability in the region.

With strengthened political mutual trust, security cooperation is progressing steadily. At the 20th China-ASEAN (10+1) Leaders’ Meeting held last November, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang proposed to upgrade “2+X Cooperation Framework” to “3+X Cooperation Framework” and build a new cooperation framework that uses the three pillars—political security, economics and trade and people-topeople and cultural exchange—as the mainline and with multi- field cooperation as the support. Currently, both sides are working to formulate the “2030 Vision for China-ASEAN Strategic Partnership,”charting a new blueprint for future development. Bilateral economic and trade cooperation has been enhanced, bringing mutual benefits to both sides.For eight consecutive years,China has remained the largest trading partner of ASEAN, with two-way direct investment reaching a cumulative total of nearly US$200 billion. Both sides have been focusing on synergy between their respective development strategies.

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang delivers a keynote speech at the Indonesia-Chinese Business Summit on the evening of May 7.

China has remained the largest trading partner of ASEAN,with two-way direct investment reaching a cumulative total of nearly US$200 billion.

While accelerating cooperation with landlocked ASEAN countries through the Lancang-Mekong Cooperation mechanism, China considers stability in the South China Sea a prerequisite for cooperation with coastal countries in the region. A new pattern of landsea coordinated development between China and ASEAN is expected to emerge, and the “One Body, Two Wings” development goal will eventually become reality. Regional cooperation between China and ASEAN can truly play a torch-bearing role in Belt and Road construction.

As one of the three pillars supporting China-ASEAN relations, cultural cooperation has boomed rapidly. In recent years, the two sides have hosted a series of scientific, cultural,educational and tourist events around “thematic years.” Since the 2018 China-ASEAN Year of Innovation was launched, both sides have played an active role in implementing innovationdriven development strategy.While the Chinese government is advancing the “internet plus”action plan, a national big data strategy and the “Made in China 2025” plan, ASEAN countries have placed strategic priority on digital innovation. Around the theme of “innovation” and with efforts made to explore innovative modes in fields of science and technology and digital economy, both sides are committed to innovation-based all-around cooperation.

Strong Messages of Cooperation

Indonesia is the largest economy in Southeast Asia and straddles the Asian continent and Oceania, giving it a pivotal position along the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road. In October 2013, Chinese President Xi Jinping proposed joint efforts with ASEAN countries to build the Maritime Silk Road of the 21st Century in a speech to the Indonesian parliament at the People’s Representative Council of Indonesia. Considering this history, Premier Li’s choice of Indonesia for the first foreign visit of his second term is significant and meaningful.

Li’s Indonesia visit sent three positive signals: First, China attaches great importance to maintaining good relations with Indonesia, and this visit is expected to further enhance political mutual trust, accelerate the synergy of China’s Belt and Road Initiative and Indonesia’s“Global Maritime Fulcrum”vision and promote pragmatic bilateral cooperation. Second,China attaches great importance to ties with its neighbors,and this visit re flects its diplomatic principles of amity,sincerity, mutual benefits and inclusiveness and the policy of forging friendship and partnership with neighbors.Third, China will continue to open wider and safeguard free trade and globalization as a strong engine of globalization.When visiting the ASEAN Secretariat, Premier Li presented a painting depicting the Guest-Greeting Pine on Mt. Huangshan as a gift to symbolize Chinese people’s openness, inclusiveness and broad-mindedness.

With China entering a new era of socialism with Chinese characteristics, as declared by President Xi Jinping at the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China,ASEAN is embracing its second 50-year cycle of development.Premier Li’s visit to the ASEAN Secretariat where he met the Secretary-General of ASEAN and his attendance at the ceremony celebrating the 15th anniversary of China-ASEAN Strategic Partnership represent clear evidence of China’s commitment to cooperation with the regional bloc, which is conducive to the building of a closer China-ASEAN community of shared future and elevating the bilateral strategic partnership to new heights in the new era.