Local visitors check a bed display booth during the Jakarta International Expo recently. Over 1,000 Chinese companies exhibited products. (LEONARDUS JEGHO / FOR CHINA DAILY)

Felini Owen and his wife braved the traffic from their home in West Jakarta to reach the Jakarta International Expo complex in the central part of the capital at nearly noon on Nov 23.  

It was the first day of the China Homelife Indonesia trade fair held in Jakarta to showcase a wide assortment of China-made products.    

Owen told this correspondent that they could not wait to find the drill tool they urgently needed for refurbishment work on their second house, and they found it.

Another visitor, Ahmad Yefrianto looked for coating items for his car repair shop in Tangerang, Banten. He said he imported industrial papers from Europe and might buy Chinese products.

Owen and Yefrianto were among the many hundreds of visitors to show up at the expo on Nov 23, only a couple of hours after it was officially opened at 10 am. Overall more than 60,000 people visited the four-day expo from different parts of Indonesia and other countries.

In the Jakarta International Expo complex, over 1,000 Chinese companies exhibited products across nine industrial sectors from textiles and consumer electronics to household appliances

This was the fifth and largest China Homelife Indonesia held in Southeast Asia’s largest economy, since the first in March 2022. 

According to the organizers, the expo is to promote China’s latest, innovative products and inspire locals to develop globally competitive products in partnership with Chinese investors.  

So far, China Homelife expos have been held annually in 17 countries with support from the Chinese government, local governments, and business associations.

In Jakarta, over 1,000 Chinese companies exhibited products across nine industrial sectors from textiles and consumer electronics to household appliances.

Highly visible products on display included electric vehicles, intelligent logistics warehousing, new energy storage batteries and equipment, and urban traffic management.

The expo took place amid flourishing trade and investment between the two countries. China is Indonesia’s second-largest foreign direct investment source and its top trading partner. 

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Li Feng, vice general chairman of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade Representative Office in Indonesia, said the expo was significant because of this year’s 10th anniversary of the China-Indonesia Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.

“With this expo, it is hoped that China-Indonesia cooperation will develop further,” Li said in his speech to mark the event opening.   

Sidarto Danusubroto, a senior member of Indonesia’s Presidential Advisory Board, said the expo not only showed the two nations’ commitment to expanding bilateral economic horizons but also to “creating the win-win scenario for both countries” 

Other speakers lauded the ever-stronger bond between China and Indonesia, as well as expressing hope for more mutual benefits from their cooperation.

Sidarto Danusubroto, a senior member of Indonesia’s Presidential Advisory Board, said the expo not only showed the two nations’ commitment to expanding bilateral economic horizons but also to “creating the win-win scenario for both countries.” 

For Indonesia, he said, the relationship should lead to an increase in investment, technology transfer, and exchange of best strategies.

Bernadia Irawati Tjandradewi, CEO of United Cities and Local Governments Asia Pacific, stressed the importance of further initiatives for empowering investment and trade cooperation between local governments in China and Indonesia.

She also lauded the fast progress already made in cementing such cooperation and their group’s growing membership.

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In an interview with China Daily on the expo sidelines, Tjandradewi expressed her hope for more incoming Chinese investment that would empower small and medium enterprises in Indonesia.

“Unlike in China and Japan, most medium enterprises in Indonesia are still focused on businesses like culinary, clothes, and other daily life products,” she said. China and Japan are exemplary countries as their empowerment programs reach small enterprises in rural areas, she added.

Tjandradewi said that small enterprises in Indonesia, including those outside Java, need to be developed in a big way to build their participation in automotive industries, for instance. For this to happen, such enterprises need up-to-date technologies.

Attracting investors to open businesses in rural areas, especially on islands outside of Java, remains a challenge with factors including poor infrastructure, market uncertainty, and qualified human resources.  

However, Chinese entrepreneur Martin Su is optimistic. He said he is considering partnering with locals to open an assembling plant outside of Java, as land prices are much lower than on Indonesia’s most populous island.

Su’s Wesfork (Zhejiang) Industries Co Ltd, based in Hangzhou city, Zhejiang province, manufactures and distributes a wide range of industrial products like stackers and pallet trucks. Wesfork now has an Indonesian assembling partner in Java, Su said.  

“Companies in China always establish their operations all over the world. Indonesia is my target because of its big population,” Su told this correspondent.

“We gained a lot from this exhibition. I will come to Indonesia more often. We believe we have good business opportunities here,” said Catherine Yuan from the SCJ Business Group, which produces electric vehicle chargers under the Genie brand.

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The marketing manager told this correspondent that many expo visitors had shown an interest in their charging stations and charging piles.

The writer is a freelance journalist for China Daily.