RI, CHINA TO SIGN EXTRADITION TREATY JULY 1

Beijing, June 19 (ANTARA) - After being postponed several times, the signing of an extradition treaty between Indonesia and China is now scheduled to take place next July 1 in Beijing, Indonesia's top diplomat in the Chinese capital said.

"The two countries' foreign ministers will sign the treaty here on July 1, 2009," Indonesian Ambassador to China Sudrajat said on Friday.

The two countries had planned to sign the agreement last year but it was postponed due to both ministers' hectic agendas.

"God Willing, there will be no further obstacles, so it can be signed on July 1," Sudrajat said, adding the postponement was purely due to technical problems and not to matters related with the agreement's substance.

The extradition agreement would provide for cooperation in the legal field between the two nations in line with the Strategic Cooperation accord signed by Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Chinese President Hu Jianto in April 2007.

Indonesia and China have established cooperation in various fields including in the political and security fields.

The Indonesian and Chinese governments in Beijing, on November 7, 2007, agreed to implement cooperation in the defense field, as a follow up to the Strategic Cooperation agreement signed by the two countries' leaders.

Meanwhile, in a meeting with Indonesia's acting Coordinating Minister for Economy Sri Muyani Indrawati in Beijing last March 19, 2009, Chinese Vice Premier Li Keqiang had said China greatly valued cooperation with neighboring developing countries, including Indonesia.

China was willing to share its technologies and experience with Indonesia to develop infrastructure and industries, Li told Sri Muyani as reported by Xinhua.

Li hoped the two sides could work together more closely to boost cooperation in the energy, construction and financial fields.

Sri Muyani said Indonesia would continue to boost cooperation with China in such areas as energy to push forward economic and trade relations.

China and Indonesia have set 30 billion US dollars as the target of their two-way trade for 2010. In 2008 the figure had already reached 28 billion dollars, according to Chinese government statistics.