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Interview: Chinese premier's Chile visit milestone in bilateral ties: congressman

Xinhua, May 31, 2015 Adjust font size:

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang's recent visit to Chile marked a milestone in bilateral relations, said a Chilean congressman who used to serve as his country's ambassador to China.

"This remarkable visit of Chinese Premier Li marks a new milestone in the development of Chile-China relations. It is proof of the good relations between the two countries and their mutual trust," Jorge Tarud told Xinhua on Saturday.

During Li's stay in Chile, the two countries signed a series of bilateral business contracts and governmental accords in politics, trade, finance, mining, agriculture, production capacity and science and technology.

Noting that China has industrial manufacturing capacity and technologies while Latin American countries need to expand their infrastructure networks and increase their industrial levels, he said that the new agreements will open new paths for win-win cooperation and common development.

China agreed to grant a quota of 50 billion yuan (8.1 billion U.S. dollars) for qualified foreign institutional investors of Chile to invest in Chinese stock markets.

Other highlights of the visit include a three-year currency swap deal worth 22 billion yuan (3.5 billion dollars).

"These agreements place us in a good position to become the financial bridge between China and South America," said Tarud.

The two countries also signed an agreement to simplify visa application processes to promote tourism and people-to-people exchanges. "This confirms the close ties between us and the common aspiration of both sides to continue to strengthen the relations," said Tarud.

Li's visit to Chile was the last leg of his four-nation Latin America tour earlier this month, which also took him to Brazil, Colombia and Peru.

Referring to his experience as Chilean ambassador in China, he said, "Every time I visited China I was amazed."

"The last time when I was there some months ago to attend APEC summit, I could sense its evolution and its position as a world giant, which explains why this relationship is so important for us," he said. Endi