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Interview: Chile's cooperation with China going from strength to strength

Xinhua, September 11, 2015 Adjust font size:

"Beyond the distance between Chile and China, the Chilean people feel politically, economically and culturally close to the Chinese people," said Diego Torres, head of Asia and Oceania Affairs at the Chilean Foreign Ministry's Directorate of Economic Relations, in a recent interview with Xinhua.

On the Chile Week 2015, held on Aug. 23-28 in China, Torres said the delegation comprising Chilean ministers and businessmen has made progress in the areas of agriculture, mining, infrastructure and energy.

These sectors were picked for high-level contacts in China in order to follow up the accomplishments of Chinese Premier Li Keqiang's visit to Chile last May.

During the trip, Chilean Minister of Public Works, Alberto Undurraga, unveiled Chile's new tender system and investment opportunities in infrastructure, which may be of interest to Chinese companies. This includes the Aguas Negras Tunnel, to be built through the Andes, linking Chile with Argentina.

During Li's visit to Chile, the China-Chile Economic Dialogue, between the Chilean ministries of economy and foreign affairs and the Chinese National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) was held to seek to facilitate foreign investments by Chinese companies.

According to Torres, the Chilean delegation has met with the NDRC to promote Chinese investments in Chile in the aforementioned sectors.

"The challenge will now be to materialize the agreements made between the two governments... now Chinese companies have received the information they need to invest in Chile," he added.

He also said he believes the Economic Dialogue will also forward cooperation in such areas as innovation, or opening doors for Chilean SMEs to participate in trade with China.

Furthermore, Torres said China Construction Bank has opened an office in Santiago, allowing Chile to benefit from a bank operating with the Chinese currency and allowing for easier currency exchanges.

The two countries have agreed to deepen their Free Trade Agreement and Economic Dialogue, signed an agreement to avoid dual taxation and established working groups to tackle specific issues. Endi