On November 24th, Dr. Wu Shicun attended the the 7th Seminar on China-Indonesia Relations by videoconference. The seminar was co-sponsored by the Chinese People’s Institute of Foreign Affairs (CPIFA) and the Center for Strategic and International Studies of Indonesia (CSIS). It was comprised of two sessions: “70 Years of China-Indonesia Bilateral Relations: Reflections and Aspiration for the Future” and “Upholding Multilateralism: Jointly Promoting East Asia Cooperation”.

The seminar was chaired by Ambassador Ou Boqian, Vice President of CPIFA. In the opening ceremony, Mr. Wang Chao, President of CPIFA and Mr. Jusuf Wanandi, Founder and Vice Chairman of the Board of Trustees, CSIS Foundation delivered remarks on behalf of the organizers. Eminent scholars and government officials from both countries attended the event, including Ambassador Yang Yanyi, Member of Foreign Affairs Committee of the National Committee of the 13th Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), Mr. Mahendra Siregar, Vice Foreign Minister of Indonesia, Lt. Gen. (ret) Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin, Former Vice Minister of Defense of Indonesia, Ambassador of China to Indonesia Xiao Qian, Ambassador of Indonesian to China Djauhari Oratmangun, Ambassador Yang Jian, Former Ambassador of China to Brunei, among others.

President Wu delivered a speech in Session 2 and shared his thoughts on Hainan Free Trade Port, Maritime cooperation between South China Sea littoral states, and China-Indonesia industrial cooperation. He stated that the complex, sensitive and volatile situation in the South China Sea poses a challenge to China’s efforts to enhance economic cooperation and people-to-people exchanges with ASEAN countries. China and ASEAN countries need to take a multi-pronged approach on the economic, political and security fronts, as well as to adopt a new approach with sense of urgency to resolve the South China Sea issue. We need to seize the opportunities brought about by the implementation of the upgraded version of the China-ASEAN Free Trade Agreement (FTA) and the conclusion of negotiations on the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (RCEP). Based on maritime cooperation and ocean governance in the South China Sea, we need to build cooperation platforms with Southeast Asian countries in such fields as trade, economy, industry, culture and ocean governance. This will promote cross-border flow and cooperation on factors of production such as capital and technology between China and Southeast Asian countries.