Fully tap into the infinite opportunities of China Chile economic and trade cooperation

Chile is the first South American country to establish diplomatic relations with China, as well as the first Latin American country to sign a free trade agreement with China. Chile's agricultural and mineral products are fully integrated with the demand of the Chinese market, and both sides have a good political foundation and natural complementary advantages in deepening trade cooperation. At the 10th annual meeting of the China Chile Entrepreneur Committee recently held, Guo Tingting, Vice Minister of Commerce of China, stated that China and Chile are in the new energy mine There is enormous potential for cooperation in areas such as clean energy.
This year marks the tenth anniversary of the the Belt and Road Initiative and the fifth anniversary of the signing of the the Belt and Road cooperation document between China and Chile. Taking advantage of the "the Belt and Road" cooperation, the practical cooperation in the economic and trade field between the two countries has achieved fruitful results.
Currently, China is Chile's largest trading partner, and Chile is China's third largest trading partner in Latin America. Among them, agricultural product trade is an important component of China Chile relations, and China is Chile's largest export destination for agricultural products. According to Chilean customs data, the total export of Chilean agricultural products in the first three quarters of 2022 was 20.16 billion US dollars, of which the total export of agricultural products to China was 4.02 billion US dollars. Among them, the total export value of Chilean fresh cherries to China is 1.35 billion US dollars, accounting for 88.2% of the total export value of Chilean cherries.
In addition to cherries, Chilean agricultural and sideline products worth over 5.3 billion US dollars have also arrived in China. Nowadays, more and more Chilean cuisine is appearing on the dining tables of Chinese families. At the same time, more and more Chinese new energy vehicles are crossing the ocean to arrive in Chile, and more and more Chinese made vehicles are entering Chilean households.
China has been Chile's largest trading partner for three consecutive years and an important export market for Chile. Bilateral cooperation has a very broad space, and we hope to expand cooperation areas with China in the future, and work together to strengthen poverty reduction, sustainable energy, and other areas, learning from each other's strengths and weaknesses. Chilean President Gabriel Boric pointed out that Chile is committed to becoming Latin America in mining, building disaster prevention and mitigation, and sustainable energy development, Even the benchmark of the world.

The reporter learned that in recent years, under the promotion of the "the Belt and Road" initiative and other factors, the overall project of Chinese enterprises in Chile has shown the characteristics of "large-scale and diversified", which is reflected in large amount of investment, fast construction speed, high technology content, wide range of fields and strong development potential. Chinese enterprises in Chile actively participate in investments in various fields such as electricity, communication, and infrastructure, and have landed multiple large-scale projects, making important contributions to employment growth and economic recovery in Chile during the post pandemic period.

Data shows that in 2022, Chinese companies directly invested over 160 million US dollars in Chile. As of the end of 2022, Chinese enterprises have signed a total of 7.84 billion US dollars in engineering contracts in Chile, with a total completed revenue of 3.13 billion US dollars.
Borich stated that this visit can deepen economic and trade cooperation between China and Chile, and he hopes that both sides can open up more markets and pave the way for more fields. We hope to gain a deeper understanding of Chinese culture and disseminate Chile's experience, promoting cooperation between the two sides in different fields and learning from each other's strengths and weaknesses. Poverty reduction, sustainable energy, renewable energy, and other areas are all worthy of in-depth cooperation between the two countries
Ma Xiuhong, president of the China Association for the Promotion of International Investment, said that China's adherence to high-level opening-up and further opening up its market to the world will provide new opportunities for Chile's economic and trade partners and investors. Under the framework of the "the Belt and Road" initiative, enterprises of both sides can greatly expand the space for economic and trade cooperation. China and Chile have strong economic complementarity and enormous potential for economic and trade cooperation. China is accelerating the construction of a new development pattern, promoting a higher level of opening-up to the outside world, and will also bring infinite opportunities for China Chile economic and trade cooperation.