Xi urges China, Chile to expand cooperation with free trade, open industrial policies

Chinese President Xi Jinping meets with Chilean President Gabriel Boric on the sidelines of the 31st APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting in Lima, Peru, Nov. 15, 2024. [Xinhua/Huang Jingwen]

LIMA -- China and Chile should expand bilateral cooperation to more sustainable and broader areas with high-level free trade and more open industrial policies, said Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday.

In his meeting with Chilean President Gabriel Boric on the sidelines of the 31st APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting, Xi noted that Chile was the first South American country to establish diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China.

Over the past half-century, the two sides have always firmly supported each other on core interests and major concerns, being good friends who trust each other, and good partners for win-win cooperation, Xi said.

China is ready to take the 55th anniversary of diplomatic relations next year as an opportunity to strengthen strategic communication with Chile, deepen mutually beneficial cooperation, share development opportunities, and promote greater progress in the comprehensive strategic partnership between the two sides, so as to bring greater benefits to the two peoples, Xi said.

He urged the two sides to strengthen exchanges and interactions across various fields and levels, uphold mutual respect and trust, mutual benefit, and connectivity, and continuously expand the scope of their cooperation.

The two sides should strengthen cooperation in areas such as infrastructure, clean energy, information and communications, and expand bilateral cooperation to more sustainable and broader areas with high-level free trade and more open industrial policies, Xi said.

China welcomes more high-quality Chilean products to be exported to China, supports more Chinese enterprises to invest in Chile, and hopes that Chile will provide a transparent, open and non-discriminatory business environment for Chinese enterprises, he said.

China is willing to strengthen communication and cooperation with Chile within multilateral mechanisms such as the United Nations, the World Trade Organization and APEC, practice true multilateralism, safeguard a smooth and stable global supply chain and the common interests of the Global South, and jointly build an open, dynamic, resilient and peaceful Asia-Pacific community, he added.

Highlighting the strong Chile-China relations which have yielded fruitful results in economic and trade cooperation, Boric said that under the current international circumstances, the constant development of Chile-China relations holds great significance.

Chile firmly abides by the one-China principle and is willing to deepen exchanges and cooperation with China in various fields such as culture and education, he said.

He congratulated Xi on the opening of the Chancay Port on Thursday and expressed Chile's welcome for more Chinese enterprises to cooperate with Chile in areas such as capacity building and infrastructure, adding that Chile is willing to provide a favorable business environment for Chinese companies.

Chile looks forward to close communication with China within multilateral frameworks such as APEC, jointly opposing protectionism, and safeguarding global free trade as well as safe and smooth production and supply chains, said the Chilean president.

He also affirmed that Chile supports China's accession to the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) and the Digital Economy Partnership Agreement (DEPA).

Chinese President Xi Jinping meets with Chilean President Gabriel Boric on the sidelines of the 31st APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting in Lima, Peru, Nov. 15, 2024. [Xinhua/Zhai Jianlan]