Chinese investments in Indonesia's manufacturing sector have shown consistent recent growth with more to come, Donny Donosepoetro, CEO of Standard Chartered Bank in Indonesia, told China Global Television Network (CGTN) in a recent interview.
Donosepoetro said his bank was among the institutions facilitating this growth in foreign direct investments (FDI), and said future trade and investment trends between the two countries looked promising.
"We are well placed to help our China investors coming into Indonesia in navigating the local landscape, if you will. So what we have also is our structuring product capabilities. We facilitate transactions, RMB like financing, project finance, and the advisory capability that we have for our global China clients [and] investors who are coming into Indonesia," he said.
"If you look at the data in 2024, China's FDI into Indonesia on manufacturing has more than doubled. Going forward, this trend will continue to accelerate further. And we see that role in ASEAN, China is already having one third of all the manufacturing related FDI in southeast Asia. Now with Indonesia, because of population actually is quite big, so there's a lot of labor actually with that, it suits actually to do manufacturing base. And if you combine it with the availability of the different natural resources that Indonesia does have, it does make sense actually for that production diversification from a geographical perspective, from Chinese companies into Indonesia," he said.
In the interview, Donosepoetro said that China will play a critical role in developing the booming digital economy across Southeast Asia, especially in Indonesia.
"On digitalization, I just wanted to add, I think ASEAN digital economy is really booming. It's expected to reach 300 billion U.S. dollars’ worth of economic value by this year. Indonesia, along with a few other countries in ASEAN, have been leading the way, given the mass population, sort of from that perspective and young and growing middle class. You'll see that penetration of mobile is accelerating. The innovation on fin-tech and payments are really there and the associated digital infrastructure, such as data centers and all of the others. China's leading capability in super apps and in payment. And digital logistics would really enable China to play a catalytic role in that digital economy in ASEAN, as well as in Indonesia," he said.
Chinese investment in Indonesian manufacturing surges: StanChart Indonesia CEO
South China's Guangdong Province is accelerating its transformation into an international medical tourism hub, positioning itself as a destination for patients worldwide seeking affordable, high-quality care.
The push follows a joint initiative announced in late March by nine Chinese government departments, including the Ministry of Commerce, aimed at boosting spending by foreign tourists and enhancing exports of tourism services as part of broader efforts to expand the country's service sector.
Every day, some of the most complex surgeries are performed here. Li Zilun, deputy director of the division of vascular surgery at the First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat‑sen University, is among the doctors capable of carrying out these intricate procedures.
He recently completed surgery on a patient with an aortic aneurysm, a condition often described as a "time bomb" in the body’s main artery, increasingly common in aging societies around the globe. Li also specializes in highly difficult and pioneering procedures, including repairing leaks caused by failed grafts.
"This was a very challenging case. And then, we implanted the covered stent to eliminate the endoleak. Actually, the outcome was pretty good. The patient will be discharged today," said Li Zilun.
The ability to handle such complex cases -- combining international techniques with domestically produced devices -- is drawing patients from around the world to seek treatment. In addition, high safety standards and low costs are also major draws.
"Our government is encouraging innovation. So, lots of physicians -- including our vascular surgeons -- we are actively involved in the innovation that helps to increase the effectiveness and safety, and also bring down the cost," said Li.
This hospital is one of the first in Guangdong to be designated by the provincial health commission as a pilot site for building an international medical service hub.
The growing number of patients has pushed the hospital to explore new ways to transform every step -- from treatment to payment and everything in between -- into a seamless experience, reducing waiting times and delivering better care for patients.
"I think it's fast. When the patient come here for just about, I think, one week, you can solve the problem," said Xiao Haipeng, president of the First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University.
The hospital is also deepening its international cooperation with top-tier medical institutions, including those at Harvard University.
"Not just for China, for the whole globe, we are facing health care challenges -- emerging infectious disease and chronic, lung infectious diseases, and also the aging population, also the shortage of healthcare workforce," said Xiao.
In response to these challenges, China is promoting its own solutions, including aggressive innovation in artificial intelligence (AI)-driven workflows, while stepping up research and development investment and global engagement along the way.
"In recent years, the innovation in Western medicine is dramatically growing. An example of my hospital -- in the past few years, we have 140 innovations and seven of them are international leading innovations," said Xiao.
As global demand for medical tourism grows, China is positioning itself as a new destination. Official data shows that the number of foreign patients in Guangdong increased by 20 percent last year. Among them, the growth in inpatient admissions was even faster, rising by 76 percent.
Guangdong fast-tracks pilot for int'l medical service hub
