Antara News·Indonesia·Saturday, October 31, 2026 at 01:39 PM UTC

Indonesia seeks Chinese market access for personalized products

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Desca Lidya Natalia, Yashinta Difa

Beijing (ANTARA) - Indonesia is moving to capture a larger slice of the Chinese market by championing high-value, culturally rooted personalized products—ranging from digital gaming assets to bespoke artisan goods.

Speaking in Beijing on Saturday, Deputy Minister of Creative Economy Irene Umar emphasized that Indonesia's rich cultural heritage and storytelling prowess provide a unique competitive edge over mass-market commodities in the Chinese market.

"We see a significant demand in China, particularly for personalized items rooted in Indonesian culture—an area in which Indonesia has a wealth of offerings," Irene stated on the sidelines of the launch of the China chapter of the National Creative Economy Movement (Gekrafs), which spans Beijing, Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Shanghai.

Personalized products—standard goods enhanced with specific designs, cultural identities, or custom craftsmanship to carry deep emotional value—allow local creators to avoid destructive price wars.

"We should not compete on price or trade in commodities; we should lean into our creativity. The key lies in how we effectively communicate with the Chinese market, which differs from ours in terms of both language and culture," Irene urged creative industry players.

As an example of high-margin localization, she noted that raw materials like fabrics imported into Indonesia can be uniquely redesigned by local artisans, boosting profit margins by hundreds of percent through cultural value-add.

This focus aligns with the ministry's ambitious economic targets.

The creative economy sector contributed Rp1,757 trillion (approximately US$97.61 billion)—representing roughly 6.86 percent of national GDP—in 2025, driven heavily by the culinary sector with Rp721.8 trillion (US$40.10 billion) contribution.

The sector also acts as a massive employment engine, absorbing 27.40 million workers, or 18.8 percent of the national workforce).

Furthermore, creative economy exports from January to April 2026 hit US$9.99 billion, with fashion leading at US$5.85 billion—accounting for 58.55 percent of total creative exports.

The ministry aims for the sector to comprise 8 percent of GDP by 2026—a threshold officials believe may already be surpassed once booming digital assets are fully factored in.

Highlighting cross-border digital success, Irene pointed to psychological horror simulation game My Lovely Daughter by Indonesian-based GameChanger Studio, which successfully entered the Chinese market under the localized title .

"Previously, most Indonesian games were targeted at the United States market. At the Creative Economy Agency, our role has been twofold: first, assisting with translation into the target market's language, and second, opening up markets to provide a stage for our nation's talent—not just domestically, but on an international level," Irene explained.

Indonesian Ambassador to China Djauhari Oratmangun expressed strong support from the Foreign Affairs Ministry, noting that the Indonesian Embassy in Beijing has restructured its socio-cultural division into a dedicated Tourism, Creative Economy and Public Diplomacy unit.

Highlighting the vast potential of joint technological and narrative production, Djauhari suggested that Indonesia leverage its world-class storytelling traditions to co-produce projects with Chinese partners.

"If China has 'dracin'—or Chinese dramas—why should not Indonesia have 'dra-in'—or Indonesian dramas—given that Indonesia excels at storytelling?" Djauhari remarked, noting that gaming sales in China reached US$26.3 billion in the first half of the year alone, catering to 680 million users.

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