Indonesia’s fifirst high-speed rail linking capital Jakarta and the country’s fourth most populous city, Bandung, opened this September. The Jakarta-Bandung High-Speed Railway is a flflagship project between China and Indonesia under the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative.

Adopting Chinese technology and standards with a designed speed up to 350 kilometers per hour, the 142.3-kilometer-long rail track signifificantly cuts travel time between Jakarta and Bandung, which will greatly promote economic and personnel exchanges between the two cities. The high-speed railway will also help to facilitate personal mobility, technical exchange,cultural integration, and market expansion, injecting new vitality into the economic development of Indonesia and even greater Southeast Asia.

The new rail paves the way for increased cooperation between China and Indonesia in economics, technology, and culture, enabling the two countries to make greater contributions to regional and global development.

A staff member poses on the Jakarta-Bandung high-speed train during a week-long public trial phase in Bekasi on September 17,2023. (YASUYOSHI CHIBA)