(Jakarta) Chairman of Indonesian Chinese Entrepreneur Association Zhang Jinxiong, Chairman of the Guidance Committee Yu Yuling, Secretary-General Zhou Weiliang, Vice Chairman Lin Kexu, Xue Tianzeng, Chairman of the Supervisory Committee Xie Huaan, Member of the Supervisory Committee Wang Zhenkun, Honorary Chairman Yao Zhongcong, Lan Deliang, Xu Jinxiang, Zhang Heran, Chen Zhikun, Treasurer Lin Wenxian and other directors, welcomed the visit of Minister Counselor and Consul General of the Chinese Embassy in Indonesia Zheng Jie at 3:30 pm on Friday, June 20, 2025, and held a briefing on the latest Chinese visa policy.
Chairman Zhang Jinxiong said, first of all, on behalf of Indonesian Chinese Entrepreneur Association, I would like to express my most sincere congratulations and warmest welcome to Minister Counselor Zheng Jie for his new post and visit to our association this time!
Zhang Jinxiong said that in recent years, under the initiative of jointly building the "Belt and Road", the economic and trade cooperation between India and China has achieved remarkable results. In 2024, the bilateral trade volume between the two countries reached 147.8 billion US dollars, and the direct investment of mainland China and Hong Kong in Indonesia reached 8.1 billion and 8.2 billion US dollars respectively. China has been Indonesia's largest trading partner and the second largest source of investment for many years. Indonesian Chinese Entrepreneur Association has always been a witness, participant and active promoter of the close cooperation between the two countries.
Today, I am very happy to take this opportunity to exchange ideas with Zheng Gong and friends from the embassy in the Chamber of Commerce on topics of concern to everyone. In particular, the recently hotly discussed and popular Chinese visa policy, including 10-day transit visa exemption for Indonesian citizens and five-year multiple visas for ASEAN countries. These policies have effectively lowered the threshold for personnel exchanges and realized the convenience of "going on the go".
Zhang Jinxiong pointed out that we believe that this new visa policy will further stimulate the enthusiasm of our Indonesian people to travel to China and promote in-depth exchanges and cooperation in the fields of bilateral tourism, trade, education and other fields. Indonesian Chinese Entrepreneur Association will continue to work with all Chinese community colleagues to actively play the role of bridge and link, help the friendship between India and China to be evergreen, and the road of cooperation to become wider and wider.
Yu Yuling, Chairman of the Guidance Committee, said that over the years, the majority of Indonesian Chinese communities have taken root in the local area, actively integrated into the mainstream society, participated in national construction, developed industrial and commercial enterprises, and always cared about the Chinese nation, concerned about China's development dynamics, and actively promoted the deepening of China-Indonesia friendly relations.
In the long-term practice, the Chinese community has accumulated valuable experience, but it also faces some practical problems and new challenges. I would like to take this opportunity to briefly report to His Excellency the Minister Counselor as follows:
1. There is still room for improvement in the convenience of visa policies: Currently, many members of the Chinese community in Indonesia go to China to visit relatives, trace their roots, do business, and study, and the demand for visas is increasing. However, some older members or people in small and medium-sized enterprises still reflect that the application process is cumbersome, the waiting period is long, or they are inconvenienced due to language and information preparation restrictions. We sincerely hope that the embassy can open a special window or green channel appropriately to provide more humane and convenient services for the elderly, young people, and Chinese who often travel back and forth in the overseas Chinese community.
2. Promote the development of youth exchange platforms and Chinese education: Indonesian Chinese youth have a strong interest in Chinese culture and hope to have more opportunities to exchange and study in China. We earnestly hope that the embassy will help recommend scholarships, summer camps, entrepreneurship forums, and university docking programs to further encourage Chinese youth to enter China, understand China, and fall in love with China. At the same time, we also hope that your embassy can support the development of local Chinese education, teacher training, etc., and enhance the depth and breadth of the cultural heritage of the Indonesian Chinese community.
3. Strengthen daily communication mechanisms and build overseas Chinese ties: We suggest that a more normalized communication mechanism can be established in the future, such as setting up a liaison group of Chinese community representatives and holding regular policy briefings, so that the overseas Chinese community can keep abreast of China's latest developments and actively feedback the needs of the community, forming a more efficient, close, and interactive cooperative relationship.
Yu Yuling further pointed out that the Indonesian Chinese community eagerly hopes to continue to play the role of "bridge and bond" under the care and guidance of the Chinese Embassy in Indonesia, and make greater contributions to China-Indonesia friendly cooperation and people-to-people exchanges. We also firmly believe that under the guidance of the concept of "pro-sincerity, mutual benefit and inclusiveness", the relationship between the overseas Chinese community and the ancestral country will be closer, the cooperation will be deeper, and the friendship will be more long-lasting. Finally, I wish this symposium a complete success.
Yang Jianchang, Secretary General of the Indonesian Federation of Chinese Associations, pointed out that as a representative of the Indonesian Federation of Chinese Associations, we are willing to play a bridging role, actively assist the embassy in promoting relevant policies, gather resources from the Chinese community, and jointly create a smoother communication environment. At the same time, we also sincerely put forward a few suggestions:
1. We look forward to holding more and more diverse visa service days or policy briefings in major cities in the future to expand the popularization of policies. 2. It is recommended to further optimize the online application system and enhance the friendliness of the three languages of Chinese, Indonesian and English. 3. Encourage and promote mutual visits and project cooperation between China and Indonesia in the fields of youth, enterprises, culture, etc., and build a platform for deeper understanding and friendship between the people of the two countries. We believe that with the active promotion of the embassy and the joint efforts of all sectors, China-Indonesia people-to-people exchanges and cooperation will reach new heights.
Zheng Jie, Minister Counselor and Consul General, said at the briefing that China has recently implemented two visa policies to facilitate Indonesian citizens to travel to China: from June 9, China will issue "ASEAN visas" with multiple entries for five years and a maximum stay of 180 days to Indonesian business people and their spouses and children, and from June 12, China will include Indonesia in the 240-hour transit visa exemption policy. The above policies are China's active implementation of the important consensus reached by President Xi Jinping and President Prabowo on facilitating personnel exchanges and enhancing people-to-people exchanges. They are a strong cornerstone for consolidating the cultural pillar of bilateral relations and greatly facilitate Indonesian friends to travel to China for business and visit relatives and friends. This demonstrates China's firm determination to continue to promote high-level opening up.
Among these two convenient measures, the advantage of the "ASEAN visa" is that it is long-term valid and can be used multiple times, with a long stay each time. It provides a "one-time application, valid for 5 years" visa for business people going to China, and benefits their spouses and children; the advantage of the "240-hour transit visa exemption" is that there is no need to apply for a visa to China in advance, which provides Indonesian friends who need to travel to China for short-term sightseeing, visiting relatives and friends with the convenience of arranging a "go-anytime" transit through China, saving the time and energy of preparing visa application materials, waiting for approval and obtaining a visa. In order to facilitate Indonesian friends to make good use of the "240-hour transit visa exemption policy", we have also specially made an Indonesian introduction, and we also hope that all overseas Chinese leaders and friends will recommend it to Indonesian friends who intend to go to China. Next, China will work together with Indonesia to implement the important consensus reached by the heads of state of the two countries and promote the continuous improvement of the level of facilitation of personnel exchanges between the two sides.
