Photo/Shetuwang

Indonesia has been working to bolster a better business environment to attract more investment from China and promote bilateral trade, its officials said this Wednesday.

Benny Yan Pieter Siahaan, director of Directorate of ASEAN External Cooperation under Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Indonesia, said "Indonesia hopes to strengthen economic relations with China and the government has set up new regulations for foreign investments."

Ade Petranto, director of the Directorate of ASEAN Economic Cooperation under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Indonesia, shared similar views.

"Indonesia hopes to take benefit of the framework of ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) and to further conduct trade and investment with China and other ASEAN members," he said.

Commenting on the officials' views Xu Ningning, executive president at the China-ASEAN Business Council, said business associations from China and Indonesia can work closely to better guide companies, as many lack sufficient understanding of local markets and related regulations.

"The trend of Chinese companies investing in foreign countries is still on the rise but the problem is many lack proper channels, while business associations from both sides can offer many information on this aspect and beyond," Xu said.

"Our association plans to build a bridge between Chinese and Indonesian business associations for potential cooperation," Xe said.

China has been Indonesia's largest trading partner for seven consecutive years. In 2017, bilateral trade hit 63.3 billion U.S. dollars, up 18.3 percent year-on-year. China's direct investment to Indonesia reached 3.4 billion U.S. dollars the same year, up around 26 percent year-on-year according to chinanews.com, citing data from the Indonesian Investment Coordinating Board.

Trade between China and ASEAN hit 514.8 million U.S. dollars in 2017, up 13.8 percent year-on-year. The trade volume between China and ASEAN countries hit a record high in 2017, according to the Ministry of Commerce. Two-way investment between China and ASEAN countries surpassed 200 billion U.S. dollars.

Email: wenqiao@nbd.com.cn