Wang Yi, Chinese Foreign Minister, met Indonesian President Joko Widodo and his successor Prabowo Subianto in Jakarta. Wang Yi will then chair a meeting of the China-Indonesia high-level dialogue and cooperation mechanism on Friday.
China is one of the main sources of foreign direct investment (FDI) in Indonesia, an archipelago of nearly 280 million inhabitants. Indonesia's foreign policy is generally neutral, but Jakarta finds itself in a delicate diplomatic situation facing Beijing and Washington, who disagree over trade, Ukraine, the Middle East, Taiwan, and the South China Sea. Chinese companies have pumped billions into Indonesia's natural resource exploitation in recent years, particularly nickel. However, salary and working conditions on processing sites financed by China are criticized. In 2023, Jakarta notably inaugurated the first high-speed train line in Southeast Asia, a multi-billion dollar project supported by Beijing. Chinese President Xi Jinping praised relations with Jakarta, setting out a vision for regional peace amid tensions.