When Chinese President Xi Jinping and his Indonesian counterpart Joko Widodo sat together last week to watch a trial run of a new China-backed high-speed railway, it was a clear sign of their expanding economic involvement. “Begin,” was the command they gave, as the train pulled out of a Bandung station.
Projects like this are key to Beijing’s strategy to compete with the U.S. for clout in Southeast Asia, as it looks to cement its position in a region that counts China as its biggest trading partner. Two-way trade grew 13.8% year-on-year in the first 10 months of 2022, reaching $798.4 billion. The raft of new infrastructure and trade deals signed at a series of summits over the last two weeks, shows China only seeks to enhance this further.
Here’s what was agreed:
