Qin’s Indonesia stopover, his first state visit in the region since his inauguration in January, came as layered bilateral and regional challenges loomed over Beijing’s diplomatic landscape.

He is scheduled to meet with President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo on Wednesday, and the Foreign Ministry said in a Tuesday press release that the talks would follow up on topics raised during the Group of 20 Summit in Bali last year, where Jakarta and Beijing agreed to strengthen their existing partnerships.

“The meeting will focus on joint efforts to strengthen the Indonesia-China Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, including in the fields of trade and investment, infrastructure, maritime affairs, health, connectivity and people exchanges,” the ministry stated, noting that the JCBC meeting would coincide with the 10th anniversary of the nations’ bilateral comprehensive partnership.

First agreed upon in 2013, the Indonesia-China Comprehensive Partnership aims to boost cooperation in the economy, trade, fisheries, space and tourism. Numerous agreements have since come into force, including several memorandums of understanding and the latest 2022-2026 five-year action plan.

In Jakarta, Qin is also scheduled to visit the ASEAN Secretariat and meet with some of Indonesia’s top officials, including Coordinating Maritime Affairs and Investment Minister Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan.

In late 2022, following China’s relaxation of COVID-19 curbs, Indonesian officials and business executives expressed confidence that bilateral trade and investment would increase between the two countries, with demand for commodities like coal, processed nickel, iron and crude palm oil (CPO) expected to rise.

“[Last year], Indonesia’s trade with China hit a new record of US$133,65 billion, [...] during which time Chinese investment was the second-largest in Indonesia,” the ministry added.

Qin was announced as China's new foreign minister on Dec. 31, 2022, and replaced outgoing top diplomat Wang Yi, who had cultivated broad economic relations with Indonesia.

Much to discuss

Despite the celebration of a decade of closer ties, Qin’s visit comes as diplomatic problems mount in both Indonesia and Southeast Asia more generally.

Bilaterally, mid-January saw a deadly incident in Central Sulawesi’s Morowali regency, where a Chinese national and an Indonesian worker died after a protest for better working conditions and increased wages turned violent.

The incident, which took place at a PT Gunbuster Nickel Industry (GNI) plant, was reportedly caused by hostility between Chinese and local workers who were suspicious of each other partly due to the language barrier. There was also an impression that Chinese investments offered uneven benefits for local and foreign labor.

Amid calls to improve the Beijing-Jakarta partnership at the grassroots level, Investment Minister Bahlil Lahadalia tried to clear the air in January by saying Jakarta was not going to give any foreign partners preferential treatment.

On top of the Morowali riot, another Chinese investment project generated discussions on workplace safety. In December, the Jakarta-Bandung high-speed railway project saw two foreign personnel killed in a workplace accident, leading to concerns over the project’s safety on top of the already ballooning cost overruns and missed deadlines.

Initially set to begin operations by 2019 and to cost only US$6 billion, the railway project has exhausted around $7.5 billion and its launch has been set back to June of this year at the earliest.

At the regional level, tensions between China and the United States have put ASEAN countries in a tough position as they try to maintain productive ties with both sides.

Analysts are keen to see how former Chinese ambassador to the US Qin will cultivate relations with Indo-Pacific powers such as Indonesia.

Key player

Beijing and Jakarta have strong incentives to smooth over any issues, as many of Jokowi’s ambitious infrastructure projects rely on Chinese investment.

The North Kalimantan Industrial Park, which Jokowi envisions as a major step in integrating Indonesia into the global supply chain, seeks to manufacture high-tech products like semiconductors, lithium-ion batteries, solar panels and industrial silicon.

Plans for the park were announced in late 2021, when Jokowi outlined his vision of moving from a commodity-exporting country to an exporter of more processed goods.

More than 10 Chinese investors committed to develop the industrial area, Coordinating Minister Luhut said at the time, accounting for billions of dollars in downstream nickel projects.

Over a year later, Jakarta has taken advantage of its ASEAN chairmanship to promote regional electric vehicle (EV) producers on the global stage. Jokowi hopes for Indonesia to become an EV battery manufacturing center.

With 21 million tonnes of nickel reserves, Indonesia is among the world’s top producers of the ore, and despite complaints from international actors including the European Union (EU), Jokowi has enacted a nickel-export ban, among others, to cultivate the development of value-added industries.

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