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China's new foreign minister to arrive in Indonesia on Tuesday
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This photo taken on Dec. 25, 2013, shows then-director of the Foreign Ministry Information Department of China Qin Gang speaking during an event in Beijing. Qin Gang, one of China's most prominent “Wolf Warrior“ diplomats, was on Dec. 31, 2022, announced as China's foreign minister. (AFP/CNS)
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hina’s newly appointed Foreign Minister Qin Gang on Tuesday descended on Jakarta at the invitation of his Indonesian counterpart Retno L.P. Marsudi, the Foreign Ministry said.
This three-day-long trip will be Qin’s first outbound visit after taking post, with the fourth meeting of the Joint Commission on Bilateral Cooperation (JCBC) between China and Indonesia his top agenda priority.
“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, health, connectivity and people exchange,” the Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Tuesday.
The Indonesia-China Comprehensive Strategic Partnership was agreed upon in 2013, and aimed to boost cooperation in the realms of economy, trade, fishery, space and tourism. It has also produced numerous agreements, memorandums of understanding (MoUs) and plans since, including a 2022-2026 five-year action plan.
The five-year action plan was among the things discussed by President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo and his Chinese counterpart President Xi Jinping at the sidelines of last year’s Group of Twenty (G20) Summit in Bali, during which both leaders agreed to further strengthen their existing partnership.
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 Pandjaitan.
At the end of last year, following China’s eased COVID-19 curbs, Indonesian officials and business executives started conveying confidence that bilateral trade and investment would only increase between the two countries, with demands for commodities including coal, processed nickel, iron and crude palm oil (CPO) expected to rise.
