ASEAN, China Industry Discuss Value-Added Cooperation Trends

Lim Dickson, President of PT Jia He Group, is an Indonesian entrepreneur who has long maintained cooperation with Chinese partners. At a recent trade conference in China, Lim stated that Indonesia’s abundant resources and large market demand, combined with China’s advantages in technology and labour, can complement each other, making the prospects for bilateral cooperation quite promising. The China (Guangdong)-ASEAN 2026 Supply Chain Cooperation Mechanism Exchange and Matching and Trade Promotion Conference, held in Guangdong Province, southern China, on Thursday (16/7), brought together officials, business representatives, industry players, and academics from China and ASEAN countries. The conference primarily focused on AI empowerment for industry, new energy, and the coordinated development of industrial and supply chains. In his speech, Lim noted that his company has collaborated with partners in China for decades, engaging in fields such as energy, agriculture, fisheries, and mining. “Recent successes in waste-to-energy power plant projects and photovoltaic plus fishery power generation projects have been achieved through feasibility studies, resource alignment, and policy coordination. Many Chinese companies have chosen us as their partner to drive investment in Indonesia,” Lim said. Regarding the development of Indonesia-China cooperation, Lim highlighted that the partnership is shifting towards higher value-added sectors. He expressed hope that more AI companies would collaborate with Indonesian partners to expand into global markets. Meanwhile, Thanousone Phonamat, vice president of the Lao National Chamber of Commerce and Industry, stated that Laos has unique geographical advantages and expressed hope for further cooperation with China in AI talent and digital skills training, new energy manufacturing, agricultural product processing, and the connection of multimodal rail-maritime cargo routes. Attendees agreed that supply chain cooperation between Guangdong and ASEAN has reached a higher level, with regional industrial and supply chains becoming more deeply integrated, sectoral development more coordinated, and cooperation platforms and channels increasingly mature. According to Zhang Lizhong, secretary-general of the ASEAN-China Centre, China and ASEAN should proactively establish a more stable, efficient, and sustainable regional supply chain system, focusing on the digital economy, green economy, and AI, while building digital infrastructure and green supply chains to drive industrial chains to a higher level of development.