Trade surplus with China US$5.86b

Trade surplus with China US$5.86b

JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia posted a cumulative trade surplus of
US$5.86 billion with China since 1985, when direct bilateral
trade ties were restored, up to the end of last June, a Chinese
diplomat said here yesterday.

Tan Weiwen, the first secretary in charge of economic and
commercial affairs at the Chinese Embassy, said that the total
value of bilateral trade reached $2.64 billion last year with
Indonesia registering a surplus of $537 million.

"The two-way trade totaled $1.53 billion in the first half of
this year and is estimated to reach $4 billion for the whole
year," he told reporters.

Tan said that Indonesia is now China's third biggest trading
partner among the member countries of the Association of
Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) after Singapore and Malaysia.

Besides Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore, ASEAN also groups
Brunei, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam.

Indonesian exports to China consist mainly of plywood, copper,
paper, aluminum and fertilizer. Imports from China comprise
mainly of cotton fiber, textiles and machinery.

Tan held the news conference yesterday to promote the Economic
and Trade Exhibition and Forum to be held in Beijing in the
middle of October to coincide with the 26th general assembly of
the World Trade Center Association.

He invited more Indonesian companies to make use of the
exhibition to promote their products.

Erwin Ramedhan, managing director of the World Trade Center
here, said that 16 Indonesian companies have so far registered to
take part in the exhibition.(04)