VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

 Indonesian Vice President Jusuf Kalla held a bilateral meeting with his Chinese counterpart Wang Qishan in Beijing, Thursday afternoon, prior to paying an honorary visit to President Xi Jinping later in the day.

The visit was organized on the sidelines of the International Belt Road (BRF) II Cooperation Conference in Beijing on April 24-27, 2019.

On Thursday night, Kalla had planned to hold a meeting with several leaders of China-based firms.

The Belt and Road Forum (BRF) program will kick off tomorrow (Friday) with an opening ceremony, and an evening dinner also lined up.

However, during this time, the vice president will also hold a business forum for getting together Indonesian and Chinese businesspersons," Foreign Minister Retno L. P. Marsudi noted.

The BRF conference, with the peak event on Saturday (April 27), was divided into the three sessions of connectivity, policy synergy, and the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

"The vice president will address the third session held in connection with SDGs," the foreign minister said.

At the biennial conference, the vice president will, in all likelihood, also bring up the topic of Indonesian palm oil exports to China.

Foreign Minister Marsudi and Chinese Customs Minister Ni Yue Feng inked a trade protocol for the import of mangosteen from Indonesia.

"We will continuously work towards boosting the export of the tropical fruit from Indonesia to China in order to reduce the trade deficit between both nations," he noted.

President Joko Widodo had attended the first BRF in May 2017.  (ant)