Chinese foreign workers dominate the foreign workforce (TKA) in Indonesia. Based on the list of permits to employ foreign workers issued by the Ministry of Manpower and Transmigration, there are 21,271 workers, or approximately 28.7 percent, from China out of a total of 74,183 foreign workers in Indonesia.
The large volume of Indonesia-China trade transactions, as well as the significant amount of aid and cooperation between the two countries, has led to a surge of workers from China in Indonesia's foreign workforce. From January to November 2016, the number of foreign workers from China increased by 21.44 percent compared to the end of 2015.
The number of foreign workers from Singapore recorded the highest increase throughout 2016, at 40 percent, reaching 1,748 workers. Meanwhile, the number of foreign workers from Thailand saw the largest decrease, at 32.7 percent, to 2,394 workers.