China ready to deepen cooperation with Indonesia on vaccines: Chinese FM

BEIJING - China is ready to deepen cooperation with Indonesia on COVID-19 vaccines and help with its domestic anti-epidemic fight, Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Friday.

Wang made the remarks in a phone conversation with Indonesia's Coordinator for Cooperation with China and Coordinating Minister Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan.

Wang recalled his meeting with Luhut in Indonesia not long ago, saying it consolidated mutual trust and deepened friendship between the two sides.

Both sides earnestly implemented a series of important consensuses reached by the two heads of state and achieved positive progress, Wang said.

China is willing to make joint efforts with Indonesia to promote cooperation in various fields to achieve more tangible results and better benefit the two countries and their people, he added.

China supports Indonesia in exploring a development path suited to its own national conditions and in playing a greater role in the international and regional arena, Wang said.

As long as the Chinese and Indonesian people come together, they will surely make greater contributions to the development of Asia and the progress of mankind, Wang said.

Both President Joko Widodo and Luhut have received the shot of the COVID-19 vaccine made by China, which has demonstrated their trust in China, Wang stressed.

The Chinese side attaches great importance to Indonesia's need for vaccines and supports Indonesia's efforts to build the center for vaccine production in Southeast Asia, Wang said.

The two sides should accelerate maritime cooperation, convene a new round of maritime cooperation committee and technical committee meetings on maritime cooperation at an early date, and give full play to the role of the Maritime Cooperation Fund, Wang said.

The two sides should also set up a working group on trade as soon as possible to expand the scale of bilateral trade, and press ahead with the Jakarta-Bandung high-speed railway project to ensure that it is completed and opened to traffic as scheduled.

For his part, Luhut said the Indonesian government and people appreciate China's timely offering of vaccines, and hope to continue to learn from China's experience in epidemic prevention and control and push forward anti-virus cooperation with China.

Indonesia expects more investment from China, and stands ready to strengthen exchanges and cooperation with China in such fields as trade, maritime affairs and sports, speed up the joint construction of the Belt and Road, and jointly make headway in such major projects as the Jakarta-Bandung high-speed railway and the "Two Countries, Twin Parks" project, Luhut said.

With the 1.7 billion people of both countries going hand in hand, the world will become a better place, he added.