China and Indonesia to sign deals worth $10bn

BEIJING – Chinese and Indonesian companies will sign business agreements totalling more than $10 billion on Sunday, President Prabowo Subianto said as he met his counterpart Xi Jinping in Beijing during a state visit on Saturday.
The two leaders signed multiple cooperation deals, Chinese state TV reported, as the two countries seek increased partnerships in key areas.
The deals covered issues including water conservation, maritime resources and mining, the report said, and come ahead of a meeting Prabowo is scheduled to attend on Sunday between Indonesian officials and a number of top Chinese companies.
“This is a very significant milestone in our relationship,” Prabowo said. “Over a decade of comprehensive strategic partnership, our cooperation stretches across all sectors.”
Prabowo will be in Beijing until Sunday before heading to the US to meet President Joe Biden and, possibly, his successor Donald Trump, balancing relations with the world’s two biggest economies.
Xi told Prabowo on Saturday that China was willing to cooperate with the new Indonesian government to the countries’ mutual benefit, the Chinese state broadcaster CCTV reported.
China was willing to enhance exchanges and cooperation in areas including poverty reduction, medicines, grain cultivation and the fisheries industry, Xi said.
After winning the Indonesian presidential election earlier this year, the former defence minister and special forces commander picked China as the first country to visit as president-elect.
Prabowo’s decision to accept Xi’s invitation to visit China for the second time this year confirms Jakarta’s continued commitment to their strategic ties.
“Under the current complicated global situation, Indonesia hopes to further strengthen all-round strategic coordination with China, and become a closer comprehensive strategic partner with China,” CCTV reported, citing Prabowo as saying.
China is a priority as Indonesia’s biggest trading partner and the source of more than $7 billion of investment in commodity processing capacity and infrastructure. 
“Indonesia considers China not only as a great power, but as a great civilisation,” Prabowo said. “It is only natural that now in the present situation — geopolitical and geoeconomic — that Indonesia and China have become very close partners and in many, many fields.”