Indonesia looks to China for AI, robotics and biotech as health cooperation deepens

Indonesia’s health minister has pointed to artificial intelligence and robotics as priority areas in an expanding bilateral health partnership with China, signalling growing appetite across Southeast Asia for Chinese healthcare technology.

Speaking in an interview with state news agency Xinhua, Minister of Health Budi Gunadi Sadikin said cooperation between the two countries had grown to cover “almost every aspect” of healthcare, including clinical services, AI, biotechnology, and medical equipment. He visited China in March to discuss deepening collaboration in digital and smart health.

On AI specifically, Budi said he had observed China embedding the technology across its national healthcare system at scale. He cited AI-assisted tuberculosis detection via digital X-rays and automated medical records as examples of practical deployment, and offered a pointed assessment of where the technology is heading: “Doctors who use AI will definitely replace doctors who are not using AI.”

Robotics and advanced medical equipment featured alongside AI as focal points, with the minister identifying these fields — combined with medical talent development — as having the greatest potential to strengthen Indonesia’s healthcare system.

The bilateral relationship already has tangible outputs. Indonesian cardiologists trained in Chinese hospitals in interventional cardiology have returned home and are now performing procedures that were previously unavailable, as Indonesia expands cardiac emergency services to more cities. The minister described the training component as essential: installing catheterisation laboratories is of limited value without the specialists to operate them.

Public health cooperation was also highlighted, with Indonesia seeking to learn from China’s approach to tuberculosis control — including its disease monitoring infrastructure and treatment strategies — as it works to reduce its own TB burden.

Budi said the partnership’s direction was clear: moving beyond treating illness toward keeping populations healthy, with AI, biotechnology, and ongoing medical training as the primary levers.