Chinese minister to visit Indonesia

Chinese minister to visit Indonesia

BEIJING (Reuters): Chinese Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan,
making his first solo trip abroad in his new post, will arrive in
Indonesia Saturday for a three visit, a ministry spokesman said
yesterday.

Tang's visit would be of a "working" nature, spokesman Zhu
Bangzao told reporters without elaborating.

Tang was elected by China's parliament last month to replace
the outgoing foreign minister, Qian Qichen.

Beijing, which has so far managed to escape the worst of the
regional economic crisis, has offered financial assistance to
Jakarta.

Tang is presently accompanying new Premier Zhu Rongji on his
visit to Europe, where Zhu has held bilateral summits with his
counterparts from Britain and France and represented China at the
Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) in London.