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resident Susilo Bambang Yu-dhoyono will be busy during his upcoming visit to China, between meeting the top leaders of the world’s second-largest economy, inking more cooperative agreements and returning home with a degree from its reputable university.

Indonesian Ambassador to China, Imron Cotan, said the President is scheduled to meet four out of China’s nine top leaders, from President Hu Jintao, Prime Minister Wen Jiabao to chairman of the National People’s Congress (NPC) Wu Bangguo during his March 22-24 trip.

China’s Tsinghua University — a 101-year-old institution that counts many of China’s top leaders among its alumni, including Wen — will confer Yudhoyono with an honorary doctorate degree. Details, however, are not available.

Imron said the embassy in Beijing was informed that both leaders of Indonesia and China will sign memoranda of understanding (MoU) on a wide range of issues, from illegal drug trafficking and fisheries management to an extension of a bilateral swap between Bank Indonesia and People’s Bank of China.

“The President will also meet select CEOs from both countries,” he told visiting Indonesian journalists, including The Jakarta Post, on Wednesday.

Businesspeople from the two countries are also expected to ink an MoU on the construction of the Sunda Strait industrial site worth between US$10 million and $12 million, involving Bangun Graha Sejahtera Mulia, China Railway Construction Corp. Ltd. and Beijing International Trust Company.

Imron said that despite controversy over the project, he was optimistic about what will happen when Indonesia’s two most productive and populated islands, Java and Sumatra, are connected.

“The project, I imagine, will drastically boost Indonesia’s economic performance,” he said.

“Just think if farming products from Sumatra no longer got stuck for days at Bakaheuni Port only to rot before they reach Java. They become worthless. But with this project, the exchange can be done within hours.”

The Chinese, Imron said, follow an old saying that holds, “If you want to be rich, build highways.” This mind-set provides motivation to build better access — from roads, bridges to overpasses — for the people, services and products.

Imron said the Chinese government itself has launched an ambitious project to build 40 mega airports across the country and railway routes all the way to Poland.

During his visit, Yudhoyono is scheduled to witness the signing of many cooperative deals, such as the deal on the metal industry between PT Krakatau Steel and China Metallurgical Group Corporation-Capital Engineering & Research Incorporation Ltd. (CMCC-CERI) and on the aviation industry, including a deal between Merpati Airlines and PT Dirgantara Indonesia with AVIC International Holding Cooperation and Commercial Aircraft Cooperation China Ltd.

First Lady Ani Yudhoyono is also expected to open China’s first Bahasa Indonesia Study Center at the Beijing Foreign Language Studies University, the alma mater of China’s leading diplomats.