Indonesia’s president receives China’s premier in Jakarta

Jakarta, Sep 8 (EFE).- Indonesia’s leader Joko Widodo received China’s Premier Li Qiang on Friday at the presidential palace a day after the close of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit in Jakarta.

Widodo received Li at 10 am local time (03:00 GMT) at Merdeka Palace, his official residence, with an official welcome ceremony.

Li busied himself in Jakarta with an intense schedule of events both with members of the ASEAN bloc, established in 1967 and made up of Brunei, Cambodia, the Philippines, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam, as well as with invited leaders.

During the three-day summit, Li agreed to update the China-ASEAN free trade agreement and signed several new documents with the bloc, of which Beijing is the biggest trading partner, including one on agriculture and food security.

He also visited the high-speed rail line between Jakarta and Bandung, part of China’s New Silk Road, which will start operating in October, and anticipated the possible involvement of Beijing in another.

At the conclusion of the summit, Widodo handed over the annual rotating ASEAN presidency to Laos on Thursday.

The Chinese premier held several meetings on the sidelines of the summit, including with leaders of countries with which Beijing has tensions, such as Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, the Philippines’ President Ferdinand Marcos Jr and South Korea’s President Yoon Suk-yeol.

Li also met United States Vice President Kamala Harris.

Both Li and Widodo travel to New Delhi on Friday to participate in the G20 summit, which Indonesia presided over last year, achieving an unexpected consensus among its leaders at the meeting in Bali in November. EFE

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