Chinese President Xi Jinping said Monday that China and Indonesia should seize the new industries and models created by the COVID-19 pandemic and open up new cooperation areas to boost their respective development and give impetus to the regional and global economy.
Xi made the remarks in a phone conversation in the night with his Indonesian counterpart, Joko Widodo.
Pointing out that both China and Indonesia have a large population and face an arduous task of fighting the coronavirus disease, Xi noted that both countries have spared no effort in relevant work on the principles of putting people first and putting life first.
China is fully confident that Indonesia will eventually prevail over the epidemic, Xi said, adding that China will continue to offer Indonesia firm support, provide it with as much material and technical assistance as China's capacity allows, and share Chinese experience in COVID-19 control, diagnosis and treatment.
Xi stressed that Indonesia is a friendly neighbor and important partner of China, and that China attaches great importance to Indonesia's concerns and needs in vaccine cooperation.
Currently, China and Indonesia have been actively engaged in vaccine cooperation, which has become a new highlight in bilateral cooperation against the epidemic, he said.
China supports companies of the two countries in carrying out cooperation on vaccine development, procurement and production, so as to help improve the availability and affordability of vaccines both in the two countries and around the globe, Xi said, calling on the two sides to continue fighting the epidemic with solidarity and jointly push forward the building of a global community of health for all.
Stressing that promoting economic recovery and growth against the background of a protracted pandemic and regular epidemic control measures is a major task for all countries, Xi said China will continue to deepen reform and raise the level of opening up in an all-round way, so as to establish a new development pattern that allows domestic and foreign markets to boost each other, which will provide broader market opportunities for the world.
The first half of this year witnessed both China's investment in Indonesia and Indonesia's exports to China rise against the trend, which has fully demonstrated that cooperation between the two countries enjoys a deep foundation and a strong momentum, said the Chinese president.
China, he added, stands ready to work with Indonesia to further synergize the Belt and Road Initiative and Indonesia's vision of Global Maritime Fulcrum, earnestly implement such key projects as the Jakarta-Bandung high-speed railway and the regional comprehensive economic corridor, and make full use of the "fast lane" for personnel exchanges to speed up the resumption of work and production in both countries.
China attaches great importance to Indonesia's status and role in international and regional affairs, he said, adding that his country is ready to work with Indonesia to uphold the international system with the United Nations at its core, help improve global governance, safeguard international equity and justice, and promote the building of a community with a shared future for mankind.
For his part, Widodo noted that this year marks the 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Indonesia and China, adding that the two countries have maintained close contacts amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Widodo also expressed gratitude to the Chinese side for supporting his country's fight against the novel coronavirus, especially for carrying out vaccine cooperation with Indonesia.
Indonesia hopes to strengthen exchanges and cooperation with the Chinese side in trade, investment, people-to-people exchanges and other fields, and will continue to actively advance the construction of Jakarta-Bandung high-speed railway, he said.
Indonesia is ready to work with the Chinese side to safeguard the basic norms of international relations as well as regional peace and stability, and build a community with a shared future for mankind, he said.
