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Chile's Foreign Affairs Ministry to organize 2nd "Week of Chile in China"

Xinhua, March 11, 2016 Adjust font size:

The second "Week of Chile in China" will take place from Aug. 20 to 25, with an eye to promoting bilateral trade and business, and bolstering political and cultural ties, Chile's Foreign Affairs Ministry said Thursday.

During the first "Week of Chile in China" in 2015, Chile's former President Eduardo Frei Ruiz-Tagle led his country's sizable delegation including ministry officials and numerous business leaders, and carried out 38 different promotional activities in Beijing and Shanghai.

This year's event will take place in Beijing, Guangzhou and Hong Kong, which might "include more companies and we are going to incorporate other topics," such as university student exchanges, said Andres Rebolledo, the ministry's director of International Economic Relations.

"What's new is that we are going to Guangzhou, we'll have activities in other locations, and we'll schedule more business meetings as well as activities as part of Flavors of Chile," he said.

During the meeting with China's Ambassador to Chile Li Baorong, two top officials agreed that the "Week of Chile in China" would have a positive impact on strengthening economic and trade ties, reviewing bilateral cooperation, and expanding the free trade agreement (FTA) between the two countries.

"We plan to continue to strengthen ties with (China), which today is our main trade partner and leading destination for Chilean exports ... Both countries are close to starting a process of expanding their ties, which will open up new trade opportunities and areas of cooperation," said Rebolledo.

The FTA between Chile and China has been key in helping diversify the South American country's exports to Asia since 2006.

Currently, 97.2 percent of Chile's exports to China, or 7,336 products, are exempt from taxation. Those products account for 99 percent of the total value of Chile's exports to China.

Rebolledo noted that "while copper continues to represent a substantial percentage of Chile's exports to China (about 78 percent), today China is also the second trade partner for non-copper goods, and there is increasing trade in fruits, foodstuffs and wines, among other things." Endi