Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi (R) shakes hands with his Indonesian counterpart Retno Marsudi during their meeting on the sidelines of the Group of Twenty (G20) ministerial meeting in Bonn, Germany, on Feb. 17, 2017. (Xinhua/Luo Huanhuan)
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Friday met his Indonesian counterpart Retno Marsudi over deepening ties between the two countries.
The meeting took place on the sidelines of the Group of Twenty (G20) ministerial meeting in Germany's western city of Bonn.
Wang recalled the consensus reached on deepening bilateral ties in September last year when Chinese President Xi Jinping met Indonesian President Joko Widodo in China's Hangzhou. Referring to the two countries as comprehensive strategic partners, Wang said China will earnestly implement the consensus, and maintain close contacts and cooperation to deepen bilateral relations.
Saying that Indonesia is an important country along the historic Maritime Silk Road, the Chinese foreign minister urged Indonesia and China to further align their national development strategies in order to achieve common development.
Wang expressed hope that both countries would work together to carry forward the Jakarta-Bandung high-speed railway project.
Retno on her part said Indonesia has a strong will to strengthen ties with China. She said her country is willing to deepen the existing mechanism of dialogue with China in order to better align its national development strategy with China-proposed Belt and Road initiative and lift the level of bilateral cooperation in fields of investment, agriculture and maritime.
On China's ties with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), Wang said China is willing to work with ASEAN countries including Indonesia to focus on cooperation, remove disturbances and improve China-ASEAN relations.
Wang expressed China's willingness to work together with ASEAN to accelerate negotiations on the Code of Conduct in the South China Sea on the basis of fully implementing the Declaration on the Conduct of the Parties in the South China Sea.
Retno said Indonesia welcomes China's role in actively pushing forward negotiations on the Code of Conduct in the South China Sea.
She said her country is willing to maintain consultation and communication and step up maritime cooperation with China, thus sending a positive signal that the two countries are capable of safeguarding peace and stability in the South China Sea.
