Indonesia polls favour ex-general seen bolstering ties with China

Indonesian presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto greets supporters during his campaign rally in Malang, East Java, Indonesia Thursday, Feb. 1, 2024. Indonesians on Wednesday, Feb. 14, 2024 will elect the successor to popular President Joko Widodo, who is serving his second and final term. It is a three-way race for the presidency among current Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto and two former governors, Anies Baswedan and Ganjar Pranowo. - AP

JAKARTA (Bloomberg): Days before Indonesians vote for their first new president in a decade, opinion polls favor an ex-general bent on continuing an economic strategy anchored on business ties to China while vowing to sustain a more neutral foreign policy stance between Washington and Beijing.

As the front-runner in the Feb. 14 election, Defence Minister Prabowo Subianto has pledged to build on the business-friendly policies of President Joko Widodo, which includes a more than eight-fold increase in Chinese foreign investment over his 10 years in office.