Introduction
Twenty years is long enough for an agreement to cross mountains and seas and bear the fruits of the deep integration of industry and scientific research.
In 2006, Wanxinda Group reached a cooperation agreement with China National Geography Magazine, which is affiliated with the Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), in Beijing. That handshake not only laid a solid foundation for the bridge of cultural dissemination but also sowed a seed for broad future cooperation.
Over the past two decades, the footprints of exploration have extended from the beautiful China to the land of a thousand Islands.
On August 11, 2025, we once again gathered with the team from the Institute of Geography, Chinese Academy of Sciences, who share the same roots, in Jakarta, Indonesia. This is not only a reunion that transcends time and space, but also a new starting point for industry and science to move forward hand in hand and jointly empower regional development under the background of the new decade of the Belt and Road Initiative.
Reuniting in Jakarta: A Deep Dialogue between Industry and Research
On the morning of August 11th, the headquarters of Wanxinda Group on the 57th floor of the Sudirman Center in Jakarta welcomed a group of special guests – an international research team led by the Institute of Geography of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and jointly composed of scholars from South Korea and Indonesia, known as the “Three Countries and Four Parties”. This research brought together top experts from the Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the Global Development Research Center of Indonesia, Bandung University of Technology in Indonesia and University College London in the UK, aiming to conduct in-depth studies on economic and trade cooperation between China and Indonesia and the implementation of the “Belt and Road Initiative”.
The research team is currently undertaking a four-year major project of the Chinese Academy of Sciences – “The Impact of China’s Major Projects in Indonesia on Local Social and Economic Development”. Wanxinda Group, as a model of successful development of Chinese-funded enterprises in Indonesia, has become an important stop in this research topic.
At the symposium, Mr. Chen Riling, the chairman of Wanxinda Group, systematically expounded to the experts present the huge potential of Indonesia as an investment hotspot. He pointed out that Indonesia’s vast territory, large population, abundant resources and independent foreign policy constitute its core advantages. The harmonious and stable China-Indonesia relations and Indonesia’s strong policy continuity have created an excellent macro environment for Chinese enterprises to “go global”.
Chairman Chen Riling particularly shared the current core project of Wanxinda Group – the Wanxinda Industrial Park in the Batang National Economic Special Zone, Indonesia. This industrial park is located in the Batang Industrial City (KITB) in Central Java Province, which is known as the “New Manufacturing Capital of Indonesia”. It is a vivid practice of Wanxinda Group in response to the initiative of deepening economic and trade cooperation between the two countries and promoting the high-quality development of the “Belt and Road Initiative”. It aims to provide a rapid landing platform to meet the demand of a large number of Chinese small and medium-sized enterprises to go global in Indonesia.
The detailed planning and front-line practice of Wanxinda have provided the most vivid and valuable empirical samples from the forefront of the industry for the research project of the team from the Institute of Geography, Chinese Academy of Sciences.
A 20-Year Promise: From Cultural Collaboration to Empowering the Belt and Road Initiative
Looking back and reflecting on the present, the significance of this symposium goes far beyond just an exchange. It reminds us of the first collaboration between Wanxinda and the Institute of Geography of the Chinese Academy of Sciences twenty years ago. Back then in Beijing, we explored the beauty of China together with China National Geography and conveyed the charm of Chinese culture to the world. One of the most notable achievements was Wanxinda’s full support for the book “Ranking of the Most Beautiful Places in China”, which was released globally in 11 language versions, sparking a global yearning and shock for a “Beautiful China”.
Twenty years later, we reunited with the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Indonesia to jointly empower China’s industries and the countries along the Belt and Road Initiative. This is of great significance. Chairman Chen Riling expressed her feelings after the meeting.
What changes is time and space, but what remains unchanged is the shared mission of Wanxinda and the Geographic System of the Chinese Academy of Sciences – to connect the world with professionalism and to gain insights into the future through science.
Future outlook: Build a solid foundation through industry and lead with science
This Jakarta symposium is an important stop of the “Three Countries and Four Parties” research team’s trip to Indonesia and also a brand-new starting point for the cooperation between Wanxinda and the Chinese Academy of Sciences in the new era. The research team will subsequently visit the Batang Industrial Park for on-site investigation, aiming to more closely integrate academic research with the front line of industry.
From the cultural handshake in Beijing in 2006 to the deep integration of industry and research in Jakarta in 2025. Twenty years of friendship and trust have enabled us to find new coordinates for cooperation in the wave of in-depth alignment between the Belt and Road Initiative and Indonesia’s “Global Maritime Fulcrum” strategy.
In the future, Wanxinda Group will continue to take industry as its foundation, maintain close ties with national-level research institutions like the Chinese Academy of Sciences, lead with science, deeply integrate cutting-edge research insights with front-line industrial practices, and inject new impetus into the in-depth development of economic and trade cooperation between China and Indonesia. We firmly believe that on this path of walking side by side, we will surely continue to contribute outstanding “Chinese wisdom” and solid “Chinese strength” to the development of Indonesia and the prosperity of the region!
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