The Banco de Chile signed a three-year US$100-million loan on Thursday with the China Development Bank (CDB), the Chilean bank said.

The loan is part of a free trade agreement signed by Chile and China in April during an official visit by Chilean President Michelle Bachelet to China.

The Banco de Chile, one of the most prestigious banks in the country, also signed with the CDB an agreement on mutual investment support.

Representative of Banco de Chile in China, Federico Dietrich, said the agreement is pioneering in that it is the first of its kind signed by a Chinese bank with a Chilean financial institution.

Dietrich said China has become one of the main sources of liquidity nowadays. "The Chinese financial institutions, which have already occupied an important position in the international ranking, will have a predominant role in global finances in the following years," Dietrich said.

The CDB, founded in 1994, has concentrated on key projects for national development in the fields of energy, transport and infrastructure.

It has financed famous projects like the Three Gorges Dam and the National Stadium, or the "Bird Nest."

(Xinhua News Agency August 15, 2008)