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hina and Indonesia today are celebrating 60 years of diplomatic relations. The relations have not always been smooth and were even suspended for 25 years following the Sept. 30, 1965 coup attempt blamed on local communists, in which Indonesia accused China of being implicated.

Diplomatic relations were restored in July 1990, and since then the two countries' relations have been growing fast, especially in the fields of politics, economics and culture. Today, most Indonesians, who for decades harbored suspicion toward China, are amazed at the economic development of the world's most populous country. They welcome the stronger relations between the two countries.

The stronger relations are most visible in the economic sector. China exports manufacturing products, such as toys, machinery, computers, food products, etc. to Indonesia, while Indonesia exports natural resources products, such as coal, nickel and CPO, to China. Many Chinese businesses have also opened manufacturing plants in Indonesia.

China has also provided financing for projects in Indonesia, such as power plant projects and bridges. The Suramadu Bridge, for instance, has become a proud landmark in China-Indonesia relations as it was mostly financed using Chinese soft loans and was jointly built by Chinese and Indonesian engineers. Most of the new power plant projects in Indonesia have been financed by Chinese banks and are being constructed by Chinese firms in partnership with Indonesian firms.

China has thus become a major financier to mega projects in Indonesia, the role played by the World Bank, ADB, Europe, Japan and the United States in the past.

This supplement edition is an effort on the part of The Jakarta Post to participate in the celebration of the diplomatic relations. It highlights how both countries can further strengthen the relations and how the Chinese and their culture have contributed to and enriched Indonesia's multicultural society.

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