The photo taken on January 16, 2023 shows Minjiang Bridge in Fuzhou, East China's Fujian Province. Photo: VCG

China's State Council, the cabinet, approved plans to establish China-Indonesia and China-Philippines demonstration parks for economic and trade innovation and development in East China's Fujian Province, according to the website of the central government on Thursday, as the relations between China and the regional countries are growing stronger.

The steady advance in the demonstration parks is expected to drive the rapid growth of two-way trade and investment, experts said.

According to the documents, the State Council approved a plan to establish a China-Indonesia demonstration park in Fuzhou and a China-Philippines demonstration park in Zhangzhou, Fujian Province.

The State Council asked to accelerate the establishment of a new development pattern, and coordinate development and security, benchmarking high-standard international economic and trade rules, in a bid to deepen economic and trade cooperation between China and Indonesia as well as the Philippines, and promote efficient and synergistic industrial development.

The documents noted that local government of Fujian Province should give full play of the complementary advantages in economic and trade cooperation with ASEAN countries. That includes exploring a deeply integrated model of cooperation in industrial chain, supply chain and value chain while creating a new high ground for economic and trade cooperation and exchange with ASEAN countries.

The local government is required to effectively promote the construction and development of the demonstration parks. Authorities should develop and improve the specific implementation plan as soon as possible, the documents said.

Meanwhile, relevant departments of the State Council should strengthen guidance and services to support the construction and development of the demonstration parks. The Ministry of Commerce should work with relevant departments to strengthen overall coordination, follow-up evaluation and supervision and inspection. Major issues should be reported to the State Council in a timely manner.

The demonstration parks will serve as another highly expected signature projects between China and the regional countries, after the launch of the Jakarta-Bandung High-Speed Railway in Indonesia and Binondo-Intramuros Bridge in the Philippines - both are major China-funded and developed projects, experts said.

The official approval of the construction of the parks manifests the relations between neighboring countries are getting stronger and closer, driven by the high-level meetings and interactions that built up the strong consensus to deepen cooperation, according to experts.

Indonesia-China relations have shown a satisfying enhancement, especially after both agreed to form a comprehensive strategic partnership in 2013 and succeeded in synergizing Indonesia's Global Maritime Fulcrum (GMF) and the BRI in 2018.

In 2022, China-Indonesian relations witnessed a particular fast growth, highlighted by the historic meeting of the two heads of state at G20 Summit in Bali in November.

The strong political ties have bored fruits exemplified by the Jakarta-Bandung High-Speed Railway, the first of its kind in Indonesia, which enables the people of the country to enjoy a faster traffic while narrowing down the travel hours between the two places from three hours to 40 minutes.

China's cooperation with the Philippines has also grown to a historic level. Among all the fruitful partnerships, infrastructure cooperation has been a highlight of the bilateral relations over the past six years, with 17 projects already completed and more than 20 projects being implemented or in progress, Chinese Ambassador to the Philippines Huang Xilian said in an interview with the Global Times in September.