Jakarta. Indonesia is likely to get closer with China under the Prabowo Subianto government as the newly installed president dreams of unlocking an 8-percent growth, according to former Chinese diplomat Xu Bu.

Prabowo aspires to attain an 8-percent annual growth rate within the first 3 years of his presidency. His ambitions have caught the attention of Indonesia's top trading partner: China.

Xu Bu said that Prabowo had shown "strong interest" in trading more with Beijing as seen in how he rushed to meet with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping shortly after being declared the election winner. Trade and investments are instrumental in growing a country's economy. And it should be no surprise to see Indonesia and China forging stronger ties in the coming years amidst the ambitious growth targets. 

“As [Prabowo sets] an 8-percent growth rate target, I believe the China-Indonesia relations will further be strengthened. China is looking to expand its economic cooperation with ASEAN countries. And Indonesia’s huge population holds a big potential for market and investments,” Xu Bu, who was the ex Chinese ambassador to ASEAN, told a media gathering in Jakarta on Thursday.

“Over the past years, our bilateral trade has expanded dramatically. We do see huge potential. We [China] hope to [help] fulfill [Prabowo’s] 8-percent growth goal,” Xu Bu said.

Economic think-tank INDEF is skeptical of Prabowo’s goals as no president ever secured a growth beyond 6 percent. Data showed Indonesia’s growth rate averaged at around 4.9 percent under Former President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo. The highest annual growth rate ever witnessed by Indonesia was 10.9 percent in 1968. Longest-serving president and Prabowo’s ex father-in-law Soeharto was in power at the time. Prabowo, however, seems unfazed by the criticisms, even saying that there is nothing wrong with dreaming big. 

During his Beijing trip, Prabowo had told Xi that he would continue Jokowi’s friendly policies towards China under his leadership. In his inaugural speech, Prabowo confirmed that Indonesia would try to be friends with all countries.

“I have always said that Indonesia wants to be a ‘good neighbor’ in its foreign policy. … We will adopt the old philosophy of ‘having a thousand friends is too few, one enemy is too many’,” Prabowo said over the weekend.

Indonesia-China economic ties had thrived under the Jokowi government. Bilateral trade totaled $72.9 billion when Jokowi got reelected in 2019. The numbers soared to $127.8 billion in 2023. Trade already reached $84.8 billion in January-August 2024, already beating the $83.1 billion recorded in the same period the previous year. 

China is heavily investing in Indonesia, even funding the $7.3 billion Jakarta-Bandung high-speed railway. China also became Indonesia’s third biggest source of foreign direct investment (FDI) in January-September 2024. Chinese investors had put nearly $5.8 billion into Indonesia over the said period.