China, Indonesia bolster ties

President Xi Jinping and visiting Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto attend a welcoming ceremony before holding talks at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Saturday. FENG YONGBIN/CHINA DAILY

The joint efforts by China and Indonesia to forge an exemplary comprehensive strategic partnership and build a China-Indonesia community with a shared future of regional and global influence have highlighted their traditional friendship, according to officials and experts.

The efforts also have positive and significant implications for the region and beyond, they said as Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto wrapped up his three-day state visit to China on Sunday.

It was Prabowo's second visit to China this year and his first foreign trip after taking office on Oct 20.The 73-year-old former Indonesian defense minister also chose China as his first overseas destination in March following his victory in the presidential election.

The visits have underscored that Prabowo attaches great importance to developing relations with China and also speak volumes about the high level and strategic nature of China-Indonesia relations, President Xi Jinping said on Saturday while meeting with Prabowo in Beijing.

Xi pointed out that adherence to strategic autonomy, mutual trust, mutual assistance, win-win cooperation, fairness and justice summarizes the experience in developing bilateral ties over the past decades, and should be followed for ensuring the sustained and stable development of relations in the future.

He said China is ready to work with Indonesia to write a new chapter of seeking self-improvement via solidarity, and boosting coordination and mutually beneficial and win-win cooperation among major developing countries.

China has been Indonesia's largest trading partner for 11 consecutive years and one of Indonesia's most significant tourist source countries, while Indonesia is China's second-largest investment destination among the member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

"Prabowo's two visits have underscored China's importance to Southeast Asia's largest economy," said Du Lan, deputy director at the China Institute of International Studies' Department for Asia-Pacific Studies.

Du said that in addition to infrastructure engagement, such as the Jakarta-Bandung High-Speed Railway, both countries would further promote integrated development and cultivate new driving forces in fields including the digital economy and green development, in order to boost their modernization efforts.

This year marks the 70th anniversary of the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence, and next year marks the 70th anniversary of the Bandung Conference, at which representatives from 29 Asian and African countries and regions gathered to discuss independence, peace and economic prosperity.

Describing China and Indonesia as "major developing countries, emerging markets and major members of the Global South" during the talks, Xi called on the two nations to make efforts to steer global governance in a fairer and more equitable direction.

China is ready to carry out closer multilateral strategic coordination with Indonesia, oppose unilateralism and protectionism, advocate an equal and orderly multipolar world as well as inclusive economic globalization that benefits all, and jointly safeguard regional peace and stability, Xi said.

Prabowo said that Indonesia follows an independent and nonaligned foreign policy and will not join any military alliance or "exclusive bloc" against a third party.

Indonesia is willing to enhance coordination with China in such multilateral frameworks as the G20, in order to make positive contributions to safeguarding the common interests of the Global South and promoting a multipolar world, he added.

Analysts said greater solidarity and cooperation between China and Indonesia will boost global development as well as peace and stability, and provide important impetus to multipolarization as the world undergoes profound changes amid ever-emerging global challenges.

"Prabowo has repeatedly proposed that Indonesia should play the role of mediator in geopolitical conflicts such as the Ukraine crisis and the Palestine-Israel conflict. He also agrees with many of China's views and policies on regional and international affairs, such as jointly advancing China-ASEAN cooperation and safeguarding peace and stability in the South China Sea," said Du, the China Institute of International Studies scholar.

She added that China and Indonesia, via strengthening strategic coordination across multiple platforms, will enrich the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence and the Bandung Spirit with the imperatives of the new era, sending a strong message of the Global South pursuing strength through unity and contributing to the building of a community with a shared future for mankind.

Xu Liping, director of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences' Center for Southeast Asian Studies, said the visit highlighted both countries' efforts to strengthen the resilience and rise of major developing nations through South-South cooperation.

"Regardless of shifting international dynamics, the fundamental of friendly cooperation between China and Indonesia will remain unshakable," Xu added.

After the talks, the two leaders witnessed the signing of multiple cooperation documents in areas such as the blue economy, water conservancy and mineral resources.