Antara News·Indonesia·Wednesday, September 23, 2026 at 09:43 AM

Indonesia seeks Chinese partnerships to boost local cultural industry

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Uyu Septiyati Liman

Jakarta (ANTARA) - The Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KADIN) plans to explore partnerships with Chinese businesses to optimize the development of Indonesia's national cultural industry.

Speaking after the "Guangdong Meets the Asia-Pacific – China Finds: Guangdong Goods, Global Reach Indonesia Promotion Event," Head of KADIN Indonesia's Permanent Committee for Cultural Development and Utilization Ivan Chen stated that Indonesia is currently only exploring cultural industry cooperation with Japan and South Korea.

"(Cooperation) with China has not yet taken place. Perhaps after this event, we will discuss how to drive collaboration between the two countries," Chen responded to ANTARA's question here on Tuesday (September 22).

He noted that the national cultural industry ecosystem is not yet well-established. This is despite Indonesian films, music, and video games gaining more international recognition.

KADIN aims to increase the global competitiveness of this ecosystem by encouraging co-productions between local creators and industry players from countries that possess more advanced cultural and creative ecosystems.

Chen noted that the current development of the national cultural industry focuses on mid-sized businesses. This group has lacked adequate capacity-building programs over the past decade.

Consequently, many mid-sized enterprises have closed. This contributed to a shrinking middle-class population, which saw a decrease of 9 million people between 2019 and 2024.

He hopes reviving mid-level industries will encourage upward economic mobility. This would create a multiplier effect, supporting the growth of micro and small industries beneath them.

Furthermore, Chen highlighted a cultural trade deficit between Indonesia and China. While Indonesia's gaming sector records Rp35 trillion in annual transactions, Chinese products dominate 99 percent of the market share.

This imbalance occurs despite Indonesia having around 200 million gamers. The national gaming industry is currently estimated to be 10 times larger than the film industry.

He urged the government to support the sector so Indonesia does not only become a market for global cultural products. The country must build a robust cultural industry and open global access for local creators.

"As the younger generation, we must not ignore the potential in the cultural industry, as it would result in a massive opportunity loss," Chen remarked.

Meanwhile, President of the Indonesia-China Friendship Association (PPIT) Al Busyra Basnur emphasized that enhancing cooperation requires grassroots social involvement, rather than relying solely on the government.

He sees massive potential for regional cooperation between China and Indonesia through sister city and sister province programs, for instance with Guangdong Province that has a GDP nearly equal to all Southeast Asian countries combined.

"In fact, there is an abundance of (cooperation) potential in the regions. The regions possess far greater potential compared to Jakarta itself in terms of elevating relations and cooperation between Indonesia and Guangdong, especially economic cooperation," Basnur emphasized.

Echoing Basnur, Nanfang Media Group President Liu Qiyu stressed the vital role of the broader public and non-governmental groups in supporting Indonesia-China cooperation.

He hopes that the "Guangdong Meets the Asia-Pacific – China Finds: Guangdong Goods, Global Reach Indonesia Promotion Event" will forge stronger as well as more impactful economic and social ties between the two nations.

Nanfang Media Group or Southern Media Group is a Chinese state-owned media that hosted the promotional event.

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