After an hour’s drive through the jungle of Borneo, you reach more jungle. Your rental van from the Balikpapan city airport shakes precariously, navigating a partial bridge washout. A roadside sign admonishes against poaching the endangered sun bears.By hour three you’ve arrived at Indonesia’s new capital, which is due to start taking over from gridlocked, polluted and seaward-sinking Jakarta in 2028.Welcome to Ibu Kota Nusantara, known locally as just Nusantara or IKN. Eventually, if all goes according to plan, it will be a brand new city housing the 287 million-person archipelago’s seat of government.For now, it is still a jungle. But investors from China are clearing away a lot of that land to build the capital. Without them, the flora and fauna would keep a firm grip on the area.Indonesian government figures show that Chinese investors had spent US$29 million during 2025 to develop pieces of the capital and committed US$3.08 billion more.The Chinese investors, a pillar for the new capital’s construction during a budget cut year, hope to cement long-term relations in the massive Southeast Asian market and most locals are keen to see what they can do.Specifically, Shenzhen-based investment group Delonix, the first Chinese firm to come aboard at IKN, is developing a mixed-use commercial project. Chinese tech hardware giant Huawei Technologies is working with local partners on “smart city” infrastructure, and Citic Construction is building homes.