Indonesian president and Chinese premier meet to discuss expanding trade
during US trade war
[May 27, 2025] By
NINIEK KARMINI
JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Chinese Premier Li Qiang met with Indonesia’s
President Prabowo Subianto on Sunday to discuss ways to expand trade and
investment during the U.S. global trade war and as economic
globalization faces headwinds.
Li arrived in Indonesia’s capital, Jakarta, on Saturday afternoon for a
three-day visit to Southeast Asia’s largest economy. It was the first
stop of his first overseas visit this year.
Indonesia and China are member states of the Group of 20 major
developing countries and emerging economies and of BRICS.
Li brought 60 prominent Chinese businesspeople for his address to the
Indonesia-China Business Reception on Saturday evening. He emphasized in
his remarks that China’s economy has achieved rapid growth this year
despite increasing external challenges.
“The current international situation is a stalemate,” Li said at the
event, which was also attended by Subianto. “Unilateralism and
protectionism are on the rise, bullying behavior is increasing.”
Li noted this year marks the 70th anniversary of the conception of the
Non-Aligned Movement by Asian and African countries in Indonesia’s
Bandung city when the world was at a historical crossroads.
The Bandung spirit of solidarity, friendship and cooperation has played
a pivotal role in the unity and cooperation of the Global South
countries, Li said.
“More than seven decades later, the world is once again at an important
crossroads,” Li said.
He called on all countries to seek common ground while resolving
differences through dialogue and peaceful coexistence.
Subianto expressed gratitude to the Chinese government and its companies
“that have participated in our economy, created jobs, transferred
technology and built trust among all businesses, especially in our
homeland.”
He also invited Chinese businesspeople to invest more in Indonesia.
Two-way trade exceeded $147.8 billion last year, growing by 6.1%.
Li said for nine consecutive years, China has been Indonesia’s largest
trading partner, and its Belt and Road cooperation program has seen
substantive progress, including nickel smelting plants and Whoosh, the
commercial service of Southeast Asia’s first high-speed railway which
has been operating since October 2023, carrying nearly 10 million
passengers.
Indonesia wants a larger role in supplying nickel and other raw
materials to China’s fast-growing electric car makers.
On Sunday, Subianto hosted Li in a ceremony at Merdeka Palace in Jakarta
before the two leaders held a bilateral meeting behind closed doors.
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Chinese Premier Li Qiang, right, with Indonesian President Prabowo
Subianto, inspects an honor guard during the welcoming ceremony
ahead of their meeting in Jakarta, Indonesia, Sunday, May 25, 2025.
(AP Photo/Achmad Ibrahim)
 “The current international situation
is facing a huge upheaval, and peaceful development is facing many
uncertain and unstable factors,” Li said in his opening remarks.
China wants to strengthen its traditional friendship and Belt and
Road Initiative partnership with Indonesia, especially in five key
pillars: politics, economy, maritime affairs, security and cultural
and people-to-people exchanges.” Li said.
Li's visit to Jakarta in September 2023 came with $21.7 billion in
new Chinese investment, following a previous $44.89 billion
investment commitment made when former President Joko Widodo met
Chinese President Xi Jinping in July the same year.
The two leaders oversaw the signing of a dozen agreements including
cooperation to encourage bilateral transactions in local currencies,
trade, investment, tourism, health and agricultural exports.
Subianto emphasized the close historical relationship between
Indonesia and China and said the two countries are at an important
moment in the history of bilateral relations.
“I reiterate our commitment to strengthening our comprehensive
strategic partnership with the people and the government of China,”
Subianto said. “We see this will bring goodness not only to the two
countries, but also to the entire Asian region.”
Indonesia’s Minister of Investment and Downstream, Rosan Roeslani,
who is also the head of the Investment Coordinating Board, said that
Li’s visit brought prospects for concrete cooperation, including the
implementation of $10 billion in investment that was previously
agreed upon by the two countries.
“The investment has started and covers a number of strategic
sectors,” Roeslani told reporters, adding that the visit will also
open opportunities for several new collaborations in the fields of
transportation, industrial cluster development, mineral
downstreaming and the chemical sector.
Li is scheduled to meet with Indonesian parliament members Sunday.
On Monday, he will head to Malaysia, where he and Prime Minister
Anwar Ibrahim are scheduled to address the ASEAN-GCC-China Economic
Summit, attended by leaders from Southeast Asian countries and the
Gulf Cooperation Council.
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Associated Press reporters Andi Jatmiko and Achmad Ibrahim in
Jakarta, Indonesia, contributed to this report.
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