Indonesia-China Celebrate 75 Years Of Diplomatic Relations, Jinping And Prabowo Exchange Congratulations

President Prabowo Subianto and President Xi Jinping in the People's Hall, Beijing, Saturday (9/11/2024) (ANTARA)

JAKARTA - President Xi Jinping conveyed that the relationship between China and Indonesia for 75 years has become a model of solidarity for developing countries that both want to progress.

"China-Indonesia in today's era, builds examples of sincere solidarity between large developing countries, models of joint development, pioneers of South-South cooperation and jointly encourages the progress of mankind," President Xi said while exchanging congratulations with President Prabowo Subianto as stated on the Chinese Foreign Ministry website quoted by ANTARA Monday, April 14.

The exchange of congratulations to celebrate the 75 years of diplomatic relations between China and Indonesia was carried out on Sunday (13/4).

Official diplomatic relations between Indonesia and China began on April 13, 1950, shortly after Indonesia's independence and China was led by the Communist Party under the leadership of Mao Zedong. Indonesia is also one of the first countries in Southeast Asia to recognize China diplomatically.

For 75 years since diplomatic relations were established, said President Xi, the two countries have supported each other in joy and sorrow, worked together sincerely, and bilateral relations have grown rapidly, and the friendship between China and Indonesia has deepened in the hearts of the people.

"Last year, I met President Prabowo twice, and we agreed to support each other's development vision, work together on modernization roads, build the Chinese-Indonesian community that has regional to global influences, and promote bilateral relations to higher levels," added President Xi.

President Xi stressed that as a large developing country and an important force in "Global South", cooperation between China and Indonesia has a strategic meaning and global influence.

"I attach great importance to the development of relations between China and Indonesia, and want to work together with President Prabowo to take advantage of the 75th anniversary of diplomatic relations to further deepen comprehensive strategic cooperation between the two countries, strengthen multilateral strategic coordination, and continue to enrich the meaning of the community in the same fate," said President Xi.

In his congratulatory message, President Prabowo said that in commemoration of the 75th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Indonesia and China, he, on behalf of the government and the people of Indonesia, congratulated President Xi and the people of China.

"The friendship between Indonesia and China has been established for a long time, and the partnership between the two countries is strong and full of vitality. Cooperation in the five main pillars, namely politics, economy, culture, maritime, and security continues to grow rapidly," said President Prabowo.

He said he wanted the cooperation between the two countries to continue to be deepened, strengthen the bonds of friendship between the people and make a positive contribution to world peace and stability.

Indonesia-China relations are closely established under President Soekarno in line with the similarities between anti-imperialism ideology and non-block spirit.

The 1955 Asia-Africa Conference is a form of strengthening cooperation, Indonesia and China because both of them are the initiators of the event.

Many cultural, economic and political cooperations occurred, including state visits between President Soekarno and President Mao Zedong.

However, after the G30S/PKI incident in 1965, diplomatic relations broke due to allegations of China's involvement in supporting the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI). Under the administration of President Suharto in 1967, Indonesia froze diplomatic relations with China.

During this period, relations only lasted very limited and informally. Indonesia is also in a relationship with Taiwan.

Then in 1990, still under President Soeharto's administration, Indonesia restored diplomatic relations with China on August 8, 1990 and recognized the principle of "One China" so that it only recognized the People's Republic of China as the only Chinese country in the world.

Since the reform era in Indonesia, relations between Indonesia and China have become closer. In 2005, the two countries declared a "Strategic Partnership" (Strategic Partnership) relationship and in 2013 the status of the relationship was upgraded to "Comprehensive Strategic Partnership" which includes trade, investment and defense midwives.

Under the administration of President Joko Widodo, Indonesia joined the "Belt and Road Initiative" with one of the infrastructure projects that was successfully carried out was the Jakarta-Bandung High Speed Train.

Based on China's Customs and Excise records, Indonesia-China bilateral trade in 2024 reached 147.78 billion US dollars. Indonesian exports reached 71.09 billion US dollars, while imports from China amounted to 76.69 billion US dollars. China is the largest above the United States and Japan.

Meanwhile, China's Direct Foreign Investment (FDI) in Indonesia in 2024 was recorded at 8.1 billion US dollars (the third largest), an increase of 9.4 percent compared to 2023. This value is still below the investment value of Hong Kong (8.2 billion US dollars) and Singapore (20.1 billion US dollars).