China, Indonesia companies set to ink $10 billion deals

Chinese and Indonesian firms will sign business agreements totalling more than $10 billion on Sunday, President Prabowo Subianto said as he met his counterpart Xi Jinping in Beijing during a state visit.

Prabowo, on his first foreign trip since his inauguration last month, said the relationship between China and Indonesia is getting "stronger and stronger," according to a pool report of Saturday's welcoming ceremony. Xi said Prabowo's decision to visit China first is a reflection of the Indonesian leader's emphasis on developing ties between the two sides.

Xi and Prabowo presided over signings of several documents and memorandums of understanding between their govts. They include the joint development of fisheries and oil and gas in maritime areas of overlapping claims between the two countries as well as on maritime safety, and deepening cooperation on the blue economy, water and mineral resources and green minerals.