Posted on 22 Jan 2010
The Ministry of Trade said Indonesia`s imports from China in the January-October 2009 period were higher than the exports.
Minister of Trade Mari Elka Pangestu told a hearing with House Commission VI in Jakarta Wednesday that China has been Indonesia`s fifth biggest export destination in the world after the European Union, Japan, the United States, and Singapore.
Indonesia`s exports to China in that period reached 9.05 billion US dollars, a 12.04 decline compared to those in the same period of 2008.
Indonesia`s exports to China which had been increasing included plantation and mineral products, like CPO, coal, rubber, coffee, aluminium, iron, nickel, and manufactured products like sport shoes, digital cameras, and laser disc players.
Following the early harvest program in 2004, he said the total value of Indonesian trade with
Indonesia`s exports to China in the 2004-2008 period had increased by 24.9 percent, and imports by 35.1 percent.
In the meantime, he also said that the total value of Indonesia`s trade with China in 1999 reached 3.2 billion, which increased to 6.8 billion US dollars in 2003.
At the sasme time, Indonesia`s exports to China prior to the implementation of the ASEAN-China free trade (ACFTA) in the 1999-2003 period had grown by 14.15 percent, and imports grew by 21.1 percent.
