Xi hails 'new chapter' in relations with Indonesia

BEIJING:

Chinese President Xi Jinping told his Indonesian counterpart that Beijing hopes for a "new chapter" in bilateral relations, as the two leaders met on Saturday.

Xi held talks with newly sworn-in President Prabowo Subianto in Beijing, the first stop of the Indonesian leader's inaugural foreign tour since he took office in October.

China is keen to work with Indonesia to "write a new chapter of joint self-reliance, solidarity and cooperation, mutual benefit and win-win results as major developing countries," Xi told Prabowo in front of journalists.

Beijing and Jakarta are key economic allies, with Chinese companies ploughing money into extracting Indonesian natural resources in recent years, particularly the nickel sector.

But the two countries have sparred verbally over disputed claims in the South China Sea.

Prabowo said that the relationship between the two countries was "getting stronger and stronger."

"I would like to reiterate our commitment... to work together for the mutual benefit of our two peoples and for the prosperity, peace and stability of all of Asia," he added.

Xi held a welcome ceremony for Prabowo at Beijing's Great Hall of the People on Saturday before the talks.

Prabowo, who landed in China on Friday, is also meeting Premier Li Qiang and number three official Zhao Leji on his trip, which ends on Sunday.

He will travel onwards to Washington, at the invitation of US President Joe Biden, as part of a world tour which will also include Peru, Brazil and Britain.

Prabowo has pledged to stick to Jakarta's traditionally non-aligned foreign policy while making the world's fourth-most populous nation more active abroad.

Confrontations over what Indonesia says are Chinese incursions into its territorial waters have weighed on the trading partners' relationship in recent years.