Chinese citizen journalist jailed for Wuhan virus reporting

Yahoo – AFP, 28 December 2020 

Authoroties said former Chinese lawyer and citizen journalist
Zhang Zhan had spread "False remarks" online.

A Chinese citizen journalist was jailed for four years Monday for her reporting from Wuhan as the Covid-19 outbreak began, her lawyer said, almost a year after details of an "unknown viral pneumonia" surfaced in the central China city. 

Zhang Zhan, a former lawyer who arrived at court in a wheelchair, was sentenced at a brief hearing in a Shanghai court for allegedly "picking quarrels and provoking trouble" during her reporting in the chaotic initial stages of the outbreak. 

Her live reports and essays were shared on social media platforms in February, grabbing the attention of authorities, who have punished eight virus whistleblowers so far as they curb criticism of the government's response to the outbreak. 

Beijing has congratulated itself for "extraordinary" success in controlling the virus inside its borders, with an economy on the rebound while much of the rest of the world stutters through painful lockdowns and surging caseloads a year on from the start of the pandemic in Wuhan. 

Controlling the information flow during an unprecedented global health crisis has been pivotal in allowing China's communist authorities to reframe the narrative in their favour, with President Xi Jinping being garlanded for his leadership by the country's ruling party. 

But that has come at a serious cost to anyone who has picked holes in the official storyline. 

The court said Zhang Zhan had spread "false remarks" online, according to one of her lawyers Zhang Keke, but the prosecution did not fully divulge its evidence in court. 

"We had no way of understanding what exactly Zhang Zhan was accused of doing," he added, describing it as "a speedy, rushed hearing." 

In return the defendant "didn't respond [to questions]... She refused to answer when the judge asked her to confirm her identity." 

The defendant's mother sobbed loudly as the verdict was read out, Ren Quanniu, another member of Zhang's defence team, told reporters who were barred from entering the court. 

Concerns are mounting over the health of 37-year-old Zhang, who began a hunger strike in June and has been force-fed via a nasal tube. 

Her legal team said her health was in decline and she suffered from headaches, dizziness and stomach pain, and that she had appeared in court in a wheelchair. 

"She said when I visited her (last week): 'If they give me a heavy sentence then I will refuse food until the very end.'... She thinks she will die in prison," Ren said before the trial. 

"It's an extreme method of protesting against this society and this environment." 

China's communist authorities have a history of putting dissidents on trial in opaque courts between Christmas and New Year in an effort to minimise Western scrutiny. 

Example made

The sentencing comes just weeks before an international team of World Health Organization experts is expected to arrive in China to investigate the origins of Covid-19. 

Zhang was critical of the early response in Wuhan, writing in a February essay that the government "didn't give people enough information, then simply locked down the city". 

"This is a great violation of human rights," she wrote. 

Rights groups and embassies have also drawn attention to her case, although diplomats from several countries were denied requests to monitor the hearing. 

"Zhang Zhan's case raises serious concerns about media freedom in China," the British embassy in Beijing said, urging "China to release all those detained for their reporting." 

Authorities "want to use her case as an example to scare off other dissidents from raising questions about the pandemic situation in Wuhan earlier this year", added Leo Lan, research and advocacy consultant at the Chinese Human Rights Defenders NGO. 

A United Nations official following the trial also expressed "deep concern" about the verdict. 

"We raised her case with the authorities throughout 2020 as an example of the excessive clampdown on freedom of expression linked to #COVID19 & continue to call for her release," the office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet said in a tweet. 

Zhang is the first of a group of four citizen journalists detained by authorities after reporting from Wuhan to face trial. 

Previous attempts by AFP to contact the other three -- Chen Qiushi, Fang Bin and Li Zehua -- were unsuccessful. 

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Jokowi Calls for Introspection After Saudis Invest More in China Than Indonesia

Jakarta Globe, April 15, 2017

President Joko Widodo and King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud of Saudi Arabia
wave to onlookers during their meeting at the Presidential Palace in Bogor,
West Java, on March 1. (Antara Photo/Puspa Perwitasari)

Jakarta. Last month's state visit to Indonesia by King Salman bin Abdulaziz al Saud of Saudi Arabia had a major impact on the tourism industry, but it did not result in much in the way of investment.

King Salman, who was accompanied by a huge entourage and dozens of princes, only invested $6 billion in the world's biggest Muslim democracy, while he made commitments worth $65 billion during his subsequent visit to China.

Against this background, President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo said Indonesia needs to perform introspection and create a better climate to attract investment from abroad.

"[Saudi Arabia] invested more in China than with us. This calls for introspection; correction to see why we can't attract more investment than China," Jokowi said after inaugurating the Hasyim Ashari Mosque in Jakarta on Saturday (15/04).

The Jokowi administration was hoping the visit would result in around $25 billion in investment, but this was not realized.

"If we are ready, big investment will come by itself and we will get more than other countries," he said, as reported by state-run Antara news agency.

Before the royal visit, Saudi Arabia has shown scant interest in investing in Indonesia, having only committed $900,000 last year.

Saudi investment between 2010 and 2015 amounted to only $34 million, or 0.02 percent of the total foreign direct investment in that period.

But despite investing far less than expected, the octogenarian king did restore Indonesia's hajj quota to 221,000 after it was cut during the renovation of the Al-Masjid al-Haram mosque in Makkah.

The king's eight-day vacation in Bali also resulted in an estimated $22.4 million windfall for hotels, restaurants, car rental services and shopping centers on the island.

Bangladesh heist exposes Philippine dirty money secrets

Yahoo – AFP, Karl Malakunas, 20 March 2016

The $81 million stolen from the Bangladesh central bank's American accounts

 last month was immediately sent via electronic transfer to the Philippines' 

RCBC bank (AFP Photo/Noel Celis)

When mystery hackers launched a stunning raid on Bangladesh's foreign reserves, a plot worthy of a John le Carre spy novel was sparked in the Philippines, exposing the Southeast Asian nation as a dirty money haven.

The $81 million stolen from the Bangladesh central bank's American accounts last month was immediately sent via electronic transfer to the Philippines' RCBC bank, with the thieves deliberately targeting their laundering location.

Maia Deguito, manager of the
RCBC branch in Manila's financial
district, attends a senate hearing
in Manila on March 17, 2016
(AFP Photo/Ted Aljibe)

The Philippines has some of the world's strictest bank secrecy laws to protect account holders, while its casinos are exempt from rules altogether aimed at preventing money laundering.

"The Philippines is very attractive (for dirty money) because our laws have gaping holes. It's easy to launder money here," Senator Sergio Osmena, who is pushing for stronger anti-money laundering laws, told AFP.

Still, if the thieves were to get away with their audacious heist, the money had to be moved quickly through the banking system and into the casinos.

And it did.

Authorities took four days to order a recall of the money.

But by then it had vanished -- leaving in its place a tale of death threats, bribes, shady business figures and a bank manager who could be the villain or a victim.

"I did not do anything wrong. If this is a nightmare, I want to wake up now," the manager of RCBC bank, Maia Deguito, told ABS-CBN television this week after authorities stopped her at Manila airport from trying to leave the country.

"I live everyday in fear."

Lorenzo Tan, RCBC president and chief executive

 officer, gives a statement during a senate hearing

in Manila on March 15, 2016 (AFP Photo/Noel Celis)

With authorities in Bangladesh and elsewhere bamboozled over who masterminded the cyber-heist, Deguito's role as manager of the bank that accepted and shifted the money has come under intense scrutiny.

She has accused the bank's president, Lorenzo Tan, of ordering her to move the money. He has fiercely denied the accusations.

Philippine senators who launched an inquiry this week into the affair are yet to determine whether she was a scapegoat or not, but are convinced she was not the mastermind.

"It's a big operation. This could not have been done out of the Philippines alone," Senator Ralph Recto said.

The Senate inquiry and another probe by the Philippines' Anti-Money Laundering Council have hit several major hurdles, including a security camera at the bank not working when the money was shifted.

Accusations and counter-accusations between Deguito and RCBC management have further confused investigators.

'Money trail'

A final roadblock has emerged at the casinos, with the money apparently vanishing in mountains of gambling chips and mysterious middlemen.

Julia Abad (R), deputy director of the anti-money laundering council, speaks

at a senate hearing in Manila on March 17, 2016 (AFP Photo/Ted Aljibe)

"Our money trail ended at the casinos," Julia Abad, deputy director of the anti-money laundering council, told senators Tuesday.

On February 5, the same day Bangladesh Bank was hacked, the money was sent electronically to four accounts in Deguito's RCBC branch in the financial capital of Makati, according to testimony to the Senate inquiry.

Those accounts appeared to have been set up solely for that purpose because they were done using aliases, the Senate inquiry heard.

After that, the bulk of the money was transferred into accounts of a local ethnic Chinese businessmen, William Go, who has since protested his innocence. He said his signature was forged to set up the accounts.

From there, the money was briefly held by Philrem, a foreign exchange brokerage.

Philrem President Salud Bautista told the Senate inquiry $30 million went to a man named Weikang Xu.

Maia Deguito, manager of the
RCBC branch in Manila's financial
district, confers with one of her
lawyers during a senate hearing
in Manila on March 17, 2016
(AFP Photo/Ted Aljibe)

He was described as a casino junket operator but senators have said they know little more about him other than he is of Chinese origin.

The anti-money laundering council said another $29 million ended up in Solaire, a casino on a glittering Manila bayside strip that the Philippines hopes will become one of the world's biggest gambling destinations.

That money was exchanged into chips but could only be turned back into cash after being played in the casino, its management told the Senate inquiry.

Another $21 million was sent to Eastern Hawaii Leisure, which runs a sparsely furnished casino with Chinese-only television in Santa Ana, a sleepy town in the far northern Philippines, according to the council.

Senator Osmena said the case was likely just the tip of the iceberg.

"This could have happened hundreds of times already," he said.

"We discovered this one only because someone complained. But normally, if a drug dealer from Burma (Myanmar) or China would send money here, no one would complain."

Indonesia to Propose 4 Projects For AIIB Financing

Jakarta Globe, January 23, 2016

The government has listed four infrastructure projects to be proposed for $1 billion
 loan from Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank this year, a senior official said on
Friday. (Reuters Photo/Kim Kyung-Hoon)

Jakarta. The government has listed four infrastructure projects to submit this year for a $1 billion loan from the Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank, a senior official announced on Friday.

The government will request AIIB loans for highway construction in East and North Kalimantan, budgeted at a total of $250 million, along with another $292 million for expansion of the country's railway networks, according to Wismana Adi Subrata, Deputy for Development Financing at the Development Planning Agency (Bappenas).

Other projects include a potable water project estimated at $50 million, and a television station transmission upgrading project costing $411 million, Wismana added.

"We are still working on determining appropriate loan schemes from AIIB for each project," he explained.

The China-led AIIB began operations in its Beijing headquarters in January 16, and is expected to start disbursing loans during the second quarter of this year.

Based on its current capital capacity, the lender can reportedly manage loans of up to an annual $15 billion over the next six years.

Indonesia is a founding member of the AIIB, and is already committed to acquire $672 million of the lender's capital.

IMF approves China's yuan as elite reserve currency

Yahoo – AFP, Veronica Smith, 30 Nov 2015

The yuan, also known as the renminbi, will join the US dollar, euro, Japanese yen 

and British pound in the basket of currencies the IMF uses as an international

reserve asset (AFP Photo/Philippe Lopez)

Washington (AFP) - The International Monetary Fund welcomed China's yuan into its elite reserve currency basket on Monday, recognizing the ascendance of the Asian power in the global economy.

The yuan, also known as the renminbi, will join the US dollar, euro, Japanese yen and British pound next year in the basket of currencies the IMF uses as an international reserve asset.

IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde called the decision "an important milestone in the integration of the Chinese economy into the global financial system."

"It is also a recognition of the progress that the Chinese authorities have made in the past years in reforming China's monetary and financial systems."

The move by the IMF executive board, representing the institution's 188 member nations, solidifies China's ambition to see the government-controlled yuan achieve global status as one of the world's top currencies alongside the United States, Europe and Japan.

China, the world's second-largest economy, asked last year for the yuan to be added to the Fund's Special Drawing Rights basket.

But until recently the currency was considered too tightly controlled to qualify. The yuan already had met the IMF criteria for being widely used.

The board approval had been widely expected after IMF staff experts earlier in November said that Chinese authorities had taken the steps necessary for the yuan to be called "freely usable", and Lagarde endorsed their recommendation.

International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde, said on 

November 30, 2015 the yuan's inclusion in the elite reserve currency basket was

expected to help China open up further to the world economy (AFP Photo/
Mandel Ngan)

Lagarde said the yuan's inclusion in the basket was expected to help China open up further to the world economy.

"The continuation and deepening of these efforts will bring about a more robust international monetary and financial system, which in turn will support the growth and stability of China and the global economy," she said.

IMF members can use the Special Drawing Rights basket to obtain currencies to meet balance-of-payments needs. The Fund also issues its crisis loans -- crucial to struggling economies like Greece -- valued in SDRs.

The yuan's entry into the basket takes effect on October 1, 2016.

China's central bank has taken steps to free up the movement of the yuan. The unexpected devaluation of the yuan last August received good marks from the IMF as it expanded the currency's movements based on market forces.

In addition, Beijing last Wednesday announced that an initial group of foreign central banks has been allowed to enter the Chinese currency market, which likely will promote further internationalization of the yuan in global trading.

Chinese challenges

But China is expected to face challenges with the yuan included as an IMF reserve currency.

It puts the Bank of China under pressure to provide more transparency in line with its peers, such as the Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank.

Lagarde, speaking at a news conference, said the IMF had worked "very hard" in the last few months in the process of making the decision.

She emphasized that it is a work in progress, and that the IMF will continue to monitor all criteria and compliance from all five authorities whose currencies are represented in the basket.

The composition and weightings of the SDRs basket are reviewed every five years. The last time the currencies in the basket were changed was in 2000, when the euro replaced the German deutschemark and the French franc.

The inclusion of the yuan in the IMF basket came with the support of the United States, the IMF's largest shareholder.

Until recently Washington accused China of keeping the yuan artificially low to gain a trade advantage. But in October the US Treasury Department softened its tone, saying that after Beijing's moves to loosen controls, the yuan "remains below its appropriate medium-term valuation."

Still, the IMF decision risks angering some lawmakers in the US Congress amid fierce maneuvering for the 2016 presidential election.

Congress, for example, has repeatedly refused to ratify a 2010 IMF reform that would give greater weight to China and the four other emerging-market powers in the so-called BRICS: Brazil, Russia, India and South Africa.

Pension fund in China not for stock market bail-out: official

Want China Times, Xinhua 2015-08-29

People walking past a pension fund management center in Fuzhou, Fujian
province, June 30. (File photo/CNS)

Allowing China's pension fund to invest in the stock market was not intended as a bail out, but to create long-term and stable returns, said the vice minister of human resources and social security on Friday.

The change will eventually have a positive effect on China's real economy and support a healthy capital market, but the core purpose is to gain long-term and stable yields for the fund, vice minister You Jun said at a press conference.

The fund's management must prioritize safety, and the timing of the fund's entry into the stock market will be decided by the market, You added.

The State Council finalized guidelines on Sunday allowing the pension fund to invest in new products, including the domestic stock market.

The guidelines allow the fund to invest in more than 20 financial products, including high-risk stocks and equities, as well as low-risk bank deposits and bonds, which diversify the investment risk, You said.

To minimize risks, the guideline restricts the maximum proportion of investment in stocks and equities to 30% of total net assets.

The fund will also participate in major projects and purchase shares in state-owned enterprises to gain long-term yields, he added.

Around 2 trillion yuan (US$330 billion) of the funds total assets can be invested, You said, adding that the amount will increase as the fund grows.

China's pension fund, which accounts for roughly 90% of the country's total social security fund pool, had net assets of 3.5 trillion yuan (US$547 billion) at the end of 2014.

The pension fund was previously parked in banks or invested in treasury bonds with low yields, provoking calls for change as China faces the challenge of caring for its growing elderly population.

The new policy came as China's stock markets continue to decline, beset by shrinking turnover and greater volatility. The key Shanghai index plunged more than 30% from its June peak, wiping out most of this year's gains.

"Market-oriented operation of the pension fund requires more market supervision by authorities," said You.

The National Council for Social Security Fund (SSF), a social security strategic reserve for China's future aging population, played an exemplary role in increasing the fund's investment returns. The SSF has had an average yearly return of 8.5% over the past 14 years as of 2014 and outpaces the consumer price index growth.

The SSF has a bigger investment scope than the pension fund and is allowed to invest in domestic and overseas stocks as well as fixed income assets.

In China, private urban employees pay for their pension before retirement and usually get a pension equal to about half of their final salary.

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Indonesia Wants to Use Yuan for Trades in Asean

Jakarta Globe, 2 August 2015

Jakarta. Indonesia is proposing the use of China's yuan for trade and investment purposes in Asean‎ countries in a bid to counter further impacts from the stronger US dollar against currencies in the region, a minister said on Tuesday.

The 10 members of the Asean region, including Indonesia, Myanmar, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand, mostly use US dollars for international trade. But a strengthening greenback has made imports and servicing debt more expensive, pushing some to consider turning to the yuan.

"We want to push [the use of the yuan] when Indonesia trades with China in particular," Finance Minister Bambang Brodjonegoro said at the House of Representatives. "Bank Indonesia is preparing the mechanism so it will be attractive for traders."

Trade Minister Thomas Lembong also brought up the issue on Monday after a meeting with the president.

He said Indonesia should push harder for broader use of the Chinese currency in the region because Asean economies were "much more in tune" with China.

The rupiah traded at an average of 14,700 per US dollar on Monday morning, its weakest point since 1998, according to the counter price at state-owned Bank Rakyat Indonesia. It has lost about 13 percent of its value against the dollar this year.

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"The U in Kundalini"- Oct 18, 2012 (Kryon channeled by Lee Carroll) - (Subjects: Kundalini, Unification, EU, Nobel Peace Prize 2012, Middle East, South America, Only 5 Currencies on Earth, Old Souls, Duality will dismiss, 3D Humanity will melt with Multi dimensional higher self, Global Unity… etc.)

China Says Its High-Speed Railway Package for Indonesia Is ‘More Competitive’ Than Japan’s

Jakarta Globe, Ezra Sihite & Novy Lumanauw, Aug 10, 2015

A high-speed train passes through Shenyang in northeast China in this March 2013
 file photo. China has offered to get Indonesia’s first high-speed rail service up and
running by 2018 if picked over a rival bid by Japan. (EPA Photo)

Jakarta. China says it is offering more “competitive” benefits for the construction of Indonesia’s first high-speed railway – compared to a rival Japanese offer – as the country completes a feasibility study on the project.

Xu Shaoshi, the chairman of China’s National Development and Reform Commission, was in Jakarta on Monday to hand over the results of the study to President Joko Widodo.

“The financial plan that we’re offering is very competitive,” Xu told reporters at the State Palace in Jakarta after his meeting with Joko.

Xu did not disclose China’s final estimated cost for the construction of the railway line, which will connect Jakarta to Bandung.

Earlier reports put China’s offer at a cost of $4 billion, with a lending period of 25 years and an annual interest rate of 2 percent.

Japan, which is competing head-on with China for the same project, has submitted a lower offer. In a meeting with Indonesian Trade Minister Rachmat Gobel in Tokyo last week, Japanese officials said that under their proposal, the project would cost a total of Rp 45 trillion ($3.3 billion).

The Japanese government is also offering a soft loan to cover 75 percent of the funding, with interest of as little as 0.1 percent and a repayment period of 40 years. Under the terms of the soft loan, the Indonesian government will only have to start repaying the debt 11 years after the project has started operation.

Xu said on Monday that China was proposing a joint venture with the Indonesian government, in which Indonesia will hold a 60 percent stake in the project and China the remainder.

Addressing concerns about the safety of a Chinese-built high-speed train, Xu promised that China would do its best work in the construction and management of the project.

He also noted that the majority of high-speed train networks in the world were built by China.

Both China and Japan lay claim to having the most developed high-speed train networks in the world.

Japan, which rolled out its first Shinkasen bullet train in 1964, has a decades-long head start on its regional rival. But, China, which launched its first high-speed train service in 2007, now claims more than half of the world’s 23,000 kilometers of high-speed railway tracks.

“Our high-speed train technology is quite developed,” Xu said.

He added that China projected the opening of 40,000 new jobs with the development of the Jakarta-Bandung line, with economic activity in the areas lying along the proposed line expected to get a boost from new hotels, apartment blocks and residential estates.

Xu said China would help Indonesia form its own expert team to support the construction, management and maintenance of the line.

China is also offering to build a factory in Indonesia that will produce train components – the same offer made by Japan last week.

China is also offering Indonesia a partnership to jointly develop high-speed train projects elsewhere in Asia.

Under the Chinese proposal, there will be eight railway stations along the  150-kilometer Jakarta-Bandung tracks, with each train capable of speeds of 350 kilometers per hour – cutting travel time to as little as 26 minutes.

The Japanese proposal calls for a longer line, at 180 kilometers, and trains with a top speed of 300 kilometers per hour, for a commute of as little as 36 minutes.

China claims its project can be completed by 2018 if it is permitted to start as early as next month.

Japan, meanwhile, has offered to kick off construction early next year. After that, Indonesia’s first bullet train is forecast to have a test run in 2019, with full operation only expected in 2021.

Independent consultant

Sofyan Djalil, Indonesia’s chief economics minister, who was present at the meeting between Xu and Joko, said the government would this week appoint an independent consultant to help it decide which offer to take.

He said 11 consultancies had applied for the job, but the government was planning to hire only one.

“Let’s see which one is more competitive,” Sofyan said, adding that the chosen candidate would be given two to three weeks to study both the Japanese and the Chinese proposals.

In the mean time, the government will study the results of the Chinese feasibility study.

“The Indonesian government has received the results of the feasibility study by the Chinese and will study it and will make a decision as soon as possible,” Sofyan said.

Indonesia to Be Eighth-Largest AIIB Shareholder With $672 Million Stake

Jakarta Globe, Gayatri Suroyo & Fransiska Nangoy, Jun 28, 2015

Finance Minister Bambang Brodjonegoro, second left, is heading to Beijing on
 Monday to represent Indonesia as a founding member of AIIB. (Antara
Foto/Akbar Nugroho Gumay)

Jakarta. Indonesia will sign up as a founding member of the China-backed Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, or AIIB, with an investment of $672.1 million paid over five years, the Finance Ministry said in a statement on Sunday.

Indonesia will be the eighth-largest shareholder in the AIIB, the statement said, without detailing what percentage its share would represent. Finance Minister Bambang Brodjonegoro is scheduled to travel to Beijing to sign the agreement on Monday.

The AIIB will begin with authorized capital of $50 billion, eventually to be raised to $100 billion.

Reuters

Chinese officials sent on prison tours as a 'warning' against corruption

Officials and their spouses in Hubei province spent a day in prison this month ‘as an educational warning’, reported China Daily, provoking mockery online

The Guardian, Agence France-Presse,Monday 25 May 2015

China’s ruling Communist party led by President Xi Jinping has vowed to
crack down on endemic corruption. Photograph: Ma Zhancheng/AP

Chinese officials have been sent on prison tours visiting inmates including former colleagues as a warning against corruption, state-run media said Monday, provoking mockery online.

More than 70 officials and their spouses in central Hubei province spent a day in prison this month “as an educational warning”, the government-published China Daily reported.

The trip had given them a chance to meet 15 former government staff serving custodial sentences at the institution, it added.

The ruling Communist party has vowed to crack down on endemic corruption, with several former senior figures placed under investigation in recent years.

But there have not been systemic reforms and critics say with tight controls on media and the judicial system the campaign is open to being used for factional infighting.

The newspaper cited the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, the Communist party’s top anti-corruption body, as saying such prison visits had been organised nationwide. The tours encouraged cadres to “be aware of wrongdoings involving corruption”, the CCDI was quoted as saying.

Some Chinese internet users applauded the scheme while others reacted with derision, some calling for the trips to be extended.

One poster on Sina Weibo, a microblogging platform similar to Twitter, wrote: “If you carried out a random check on these officials, most of them would belong in prison anyway.”

Beijing encourages more companies to build Indonesia's infrastructure

Want China Times, Xinhua 2015-04-24

Xi Jinping shakes hands with Indonesian finance minister Bambang
Brodjonegoro at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Jakarta, April 21.
(Photo/Xinhua)

President Xi Jinping in China said on Wednesday that Beijing will encourage more companies to participate in infrastructure construction and operations in Indonesia.

Xi made the remarks when meeting with Indonesian president Joko Widodo in Jakarta during the two-day Asian-African leaders' meeting held here. He also promised to encourage more Chinese citizens to travel to Indonesia.

Widodo welcomed Xi's proposal to increase investment in Indonesia's infrastructure. The two presidents witnessed the signing of cooperation documents for a high-speed rail project after the meeting

Noting that this year marks the 60th anniversary of the Bandung Conference, Xi said the conference is of epoch-making significance and he is willing to work with Widodo to inherit and carry forward the Bandung Spirit, and strengthen solidarity, friendship and cooperation among developing countries.

Stressing that this year also marks 65th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Indonesia, Xi said following Widodo's successful visit to China last month, the two countries should work together to translate the consensus reached into tangible results.

China and Indonesia should maintain the good momentum of close communication at all levels to step up the implementation of agreements already reached between the two countries, he said.

He urged the two countries to achieve trade balance through a comprehensive approach and well implemented bilateral currency swap agreement.

China will continue to support the building of ASEAN community, he said, pledging that China will support ASEAN to play a leading role in the regional cooperation of Southeast Asia.

Widodo welcomed Xi to attend the Asian-African summit and the 60th anniversary of the Bandung Conference in Indonesia.

He said Indonesia hopes to expand cooperation with China in various fields and is willing to discuss the opportunities for cooperation brought by China's "21st Century Maritime Silk Road" initiative and Indonesia's new development strategy.

The Asian-African leaders' meeting opened here Wednesday with the aim of carrying on the Bandung Spirit and promoting common development of the two vibrant continents.

Xi arrived in Indonesia late Tuesday for the summit and commemorative activities for the historic 1955 Bandung Conference.

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China Minsheng to Lead Chinese Firms’ Investment of $5b in Indonesia

JakartaGlobe, Muhamad Al Azhari, Apr 21, 2015

A crane at work at Jakarta International Cointainer Terminal (JICT) in Tanjung
Priok, Jakarta, on March 23, 2015. (Antara Photo/Wahyu Putro A.)

Jakarta. Investment fund China Minsheng Investment said on Tuesday that it will lead a group of Chinese private companies to invest $5 billion in Indonesia.

“This investment is a clear demonstration of CMI’s commitment to support China and Indonesia’s existing international agenda on overcoming economic challenges and providing investment for growth,” the company said in a statement to GlobeAsia on Tuesday.

Li Huaizhen, chief executive of CMI, joined the delegation to Indonesia as one of the major representatives of China’s private enterprises to further discuss strategic plans for investment via the Asian-African Business Summit, which started in Jakarta on Tuesday as part of the Asian-African Conference.

CMI said in the statement that it will guide dozens of leading private enterprises to construct industrial parks, which will bring in a variety of industries and sectors to the Indonesian market. That will help companies from China as well as from Indonesia and abroad to establish businesses with interests that include coal, chemicals, iron and steel, power generation, cement, infrastructure, ports and the Internet.

CMI also said in the statement that it will bring its technology, managerial know-how, capital and talent to Indonesia.

GlobeAsia