FROM EIR DAILY ALERT

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China Premier Li Keqiang in Indonesia To Strengthen Ties, Expand Trade and Investments

May 7, 2018 (EIRNS)—China’s Prime Minister Li Keqiang is in Indonesia today, ahead of his travel to Tokyo for the Japan-South Korea-China Summit on May 9.

Several deals were signed during Li’s meeting with President Joko Widodo at the Bangor Presidential Palace. China will expand its purchase of palm oil by 500,000 tons—this expands China’s palm oil imports from Indonesia to 4.23 million tons, out of the country’s 5 million tons of consumption. The Jakarta Post reports that several MOUs were signed, “including on the construction of dams in Indonesia’s Sulawesi island and South Kalimantan province on Borneo.”

A major topic of discussion is the effort to overcome delays in the construction of the high-speed rail connection between Jakarta and Bandung. China won the contract in 2015, but land acquisition has proven to be a serious problem. China is now the third-largest investor in Indonesia after Singapore and Japan, and is the leading trade partner. Indonesia is looking to China to reduce the trade deficit.

Li will also meet with ASEAN Secretary General Lim Jock Hoi. ASEAN headquarters is in Jakarta.