Jakarta. The Jakarta-Surabaya high-speed train project appears to become a recurring topic of discussion during Chinese top diplomat Wang Yi’s visit to Indonesia.

Wang Yi has headed to the tourist hotspot of Labuan Bajo for the high-level dialogue on bilateral ties between Indonesia and China on Friday. In a social media post, senior minister Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan said he had candid talks with Wang Yi over durian on Thursday evening with the discussions revolving around topics such as extending the existing Jakarta-Bandung high-speed train to reach the East Javan capital of Surabaya. Luhut even called the talks a “sunset diplomacy meeting” as the government officials enjoyed the beach view.

“We served durian, which is my good friend’s favorite fruit, and we also talked about serious matters, including the continuation of the Jakarta-Surabaya high-speed train,” Luhut wrote on his personal Instagram account on Friday.

Luhut did not go into more details on the train’s extension, although more details are expected to come out after the high-level dialogue takes place. Before heading to Labuan Bajo, Wang Yi met with President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo at Jakarta's Merdeka Palace on Thursday at noon. According to Foreign Affairs Minister Retno Marsudi, Jokowi also talked about the route extension.

“Mr. President spoke of the Jakarta-Bandung high-speed train, and he is pushing for a technology transfer. He also underlined the need to speed up the feasibility study for the track extension to Surabaya,” Retno told the press shortly after Wang Yi’s meeting with Jokowi.

The $7.3 billion Jakarta-Bandung high-speed train, also known as Whoosh, becomes integral to Indonesia’s bilateral relations with China. The project falls under China’s Belt and Road initiative, which sees Beijing investing in large-scale infrastructure projects overseas. Indonesia mainly relies on Chinese loans to build Whoosh. 

Media reports show that the Kereta Cepat Indonesia China (KCIC) said in January that they were thinking of extending the tracks to Yogyakarta first before going to Surabaya, although no official decision had been made. KCIC is the consortium that runs the high-speed train project. Also in January, Luhut said that the study on the high-speed train extension was still ongoing. 

China is a major investor in Indonesia. Data shows Indonesia recorded $7.4 billion worth of investments from China throughout 2023.

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