BEIJING (AP) — Chinese investment and trade — and possibly an invitation to the Group of 20 summit in Bali this fall — are on the table in talks Tuesday between visiting Indonesian President Joko Widodo and Chinese leader Xi Jinping.
Widodo arrived in Beijing on Monday night on the first stop of a trip that will take him also to Japan and South Korea later this week.
Trade, investment and fisheries will be important issues in meetings with the leaders of all three countries, Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi said last week. In Beijing, the two sides were expected to discuss Chinese investment in infrastructure and natural resources, including a delayed project to build a high-speed rail line from Indonesia’s capital Jakarta to the city of Bandung.
Widodo was also meeting China’s No. 2 leader, Premier Li Keqiang, who is in charge of economic policy.
The Indonesian president is one of the few foreign leaders to travel to China, which has limited foreign visitors because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The vast majority of Xi’s talks with other leaders have been by phone or video link for more than two years.
Xi has not left China since early 2020 but may do so for the G-20 summit that Widodo will host in mid-November and the annual meeting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in Bangkok shortly after.
The G-20 is a valued grouping for China, analysts said, because it includes not only the rich countries of the West but also the voices of major middle-income nations such as China, India and Brazil.