Jia Qinglin meets with Indonesian President Susilo

On March 28, 2006, Chairman Jia Qinglin of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) met with Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in Jakarta.

Jia conveyed the greetings from President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao to Susilo and Susilo extended warm welcome for Jia's visit and asked him to convey his cordial greetings and best wishes to Hu and Wen.

Jia said that in recent years, the leaders of both countries have kept on grasping the development of bilateral relations from a strategic perspective of safeguarding their fundamental interest and bilateral relations have maintained sound momentum of rapid, steady and sound development. Both sides have shown mutual understanding and support on major issues involving state sovereignty and territorial integrity of each other, built up mutual political trust and continuously scored new achievements in exchanges and cooperation in economy, trade and other areas. In particular last year the two heads of state successfully exchanged visits, reached important consensus on pushing for all-round and in-depth development of bilateral relations in the new situation and jointly announced the establishment of bilateral strategic partnership. As a milestone in the development history of bilateral relations, this has pushed bilateral relations into a newer and higher development level and opened up broader prospect for mutually beneficial cooperation.

Susilo said that he reached lots of consensuses with President Hu and other Chinese leaders on strengthening bilateral relations. The establishment of strategic partnership last year is a reflection of the latest achievements in bilateral relations. Bilateral relations have been developing very well and have had a new complexion of all-round development in the areas of politics, economy & trade, investment, culture and tourism with cooperation continuously expanded. Indonesia thanks for China's assistance in tsunami disaster relief and believes that bilateral relations will surely achieve better development.

Jia indicated that both countries are large developing nations and shoulder the heavy task of developing national economy and improving people's livelihood. To strengthen bilateral strategic partnership and advance cooperation in various areas conforms to the fundamental interest of both sides and is conducive to peace, stability and development of this region and the world at large. In order to push for further development of bilateral relations, Jia put forward suggestions in the following five aspects. First, to further strengthen bilateral high-level exchanges, launch the mechanism of bilateral strategic dialogue at an early date and continuously build up mutual political trust and expand strategic consensus. Second, to continue attaching great importance to issues involving key interest of each other and enhancing mutual support. China will continue to support the efforts of the Indonesian government in combating separatist forces and safeguarding national unification and appreciates the Indonesian government for taking the one-China policy as a political basis for developing bilateral relations. Third, to vigorously advance bilateral economic and trade cooperation in the principle of equality, mutual benefits and win-win cooperation. Both sides should try to realize the goal of trade development defined by both sides, well implement cooperation programs in the areas of electric power, water conservancy, bridge and railway and expand energy and financial cooperation. Fourth, to strengthen cooperation in disaster reduction and prevention of emerging communicable diseases and jointly respond to non-traditional security threats. China would like to continue helping Indonesia build up capacity in disaster relief and bird flu prevention and control through bilateral and multilateral channels. Fifth, to strengthen coordination and cooperation in international and regional affairs and actively advance China-ASEAN cooperation and East Asian cooperation process.

Susilo agreed with Jia's proposals. He indicated that Indonesia would like to work with China to keep closer high-level exchanges, deepen cooperation in the areas of economy, trade, energy and infrastructure construction, strengthen cooperation in international and regional affairs, push for steady development of bilateral strategic partnership and make positive efforts in promoting peace and development of this region. Susilo emphasized that adherence to the one-China principle is the consistent policy of the Indonesian government and the choice by the whole Indonesian people. The Indonesian government appreciates China for supporting Indonesia's efforts in safeguarding national unification and will continue to resolutely adopt the one-China policy.

Both sides also exchanged views on international and regional issues of common interest.