Ties deepen as B&R connects whole world

Impressive, cross-continental initiative strengthens partnerships, cooperation

Chilean President Michelle Bachelet's State visit to China and her participation in the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation beginning on May 14 highlight the excellent state of Chile-China relations.

This forum is one of the most significant meetings of world leaders in 2017, not just in China, but worldwide. It comes at a moment of great uncertainty in the world economy, as the dark clouds of populism and protectionism gather over the horizon.

Both China and Chile have benefited from globalization and free trade, and participant countries should make clear they remain committed to open economies and a liberal trading and investment order. Enhancing connectivity and building up infrastructure across Eurasia is a very ambitious, but worthwhile goal.

It should speed up development and growth in this vast landmass, linking up the world's most dynamic area, East Asia, with its largest market, Europe, while bringing in vast, largely untapped emerging economies (those of Central Asia).

The Belt and Road Initiative is part and parcel of a much broader Chinese approach to international development, which puts infrastructure and connectivity front and center.

This is critical for South America and for Chile. Half of Chile's exports go to Asia, and a quarter of them to China. Bi-oceanic corridors, trans-Andean tunnels and mega-ports are all badly needed in the Southern Cone to expedite and facilitate this growing trade. Chinese companies can and should play a leading role in building them.

Chile has also proposed the installation of a trans-Pacific, fiber optic, submarine cable from China to Chile, a first between Asia and South America.

At 19,000 kilometers it would be one of the longest in the world. In this day and age, digital infrastructure is as important as the physical. Pre-feasibility studies are being undertaken now.

We have made much progress in our political and trade links. Since 2014, we have had bilateral visits at the highest level every year, be it from heads of State or government. Very few countries can say that.

Trade is also booming and has increased fourfold since 2005 to $31 billion in 2016.

However, investment has lagged behind. We are encouraged by the fact that the China Construction Bank opened a branch in Chile in 2016, and that other Chinese banks may follow suit.

There are enormous opportunities in infrastructure and energy for Chinese companies, as well as in mining and in agribusiness.

Chile does not have any oil or gas, but it is the most developed country in the region and the one with the highest per capita income - at $15,000 in nominal terms - about twice that of China.

There is thus a considerable demand for energy, for which we have the best source for solar energy on the planet.

This is the Atacama desert in Chile's north, the driest in the world, with the highest solar radiation, where some extraordinary technological and commercial breakthroughs have been made lately.

Solar plants there could provide energy for all of Chile and beyond. With its political stability, strong institutions, open economy and the rule of law, Chile has attracted much foreign direct investment from all over the world. There are many opportunities for Chinese companies.

Yes, the Chile-China free trade agreement signed in 2005 has been a great success, and bilateral trade has quadrupled since then, from $8 billion to some $31 billion in 2016.

In this past year we have seen some especially encouraging developments: Chile became the biggest exporter of fresh fruit to China, amounting to $1.2 billion.

One out of every four fruits imported by China today comes from Chile. China also became the No 1 export market for Chilean wine worth some $197 million.

The same goes for Chilean pork products, with exports to China increasing by 50 percent and reaching $129 million.

Across the board, we see Chile as becoming more and more of a food export powerhouse and a key supplier to China on that front.

That said, we would also like to export more services. The first negotiating session to deepen the Chile-China free trade agreement took place in April here in Beijing. The second will take place in Santiago in June. This negotiation should conclude by November.

The basic purpose is to add services to an agreement focused on goods. Financial services, e-commerce and government procurement are all on the table, as is an expansion of market access.

At $197 million, wine represents a little over 1 percent of Chile's total exports to China, which in 2016 reached $17 billion.

Yet, when you ask the average Chinese citizen about Chile, many will associate our country with wine.

Chile is the oldest of the New World wine producers, as we have been producing wine since the 16th century. It is closely associated with our history and our culture. Today, Chile is the world's fourth-largest exporter of wine - with the market a little under $2 billion - and the third-largest exporter to China, after France and Australia.

We are therefore especially gratified that the Chinese consumer has taken such a liking to Chilean wine. In the past years, I have hosted some of Chile's leading wine makers, such as Agustin Huneeus and Eduardo Chadwick, who have shared their insights into their ancient craft with the Chinese public.

We will continue our efforts to position our wine as a high-quality product, which we see as the way forward. A month ago, I had the extraordinary experience of addressing a crowd of 4,000 in a stadium in Wuhan, elaborating on the qualities of our wine. Only in China!

As China becomes more than just an economic powerhouse, but also a scientific and technological one, collaboration in this area becomes imperative. Astronomy is one area where that collaboration has been especially fruitful so far.

There are as many as three established Chile-China research centers at work right now, and 14 Chinese astronomers conducting full-time observation in Chile.

In a few years, 70 percent of the world's astronomical observation capacity will be in Chile. Antartic studies also hold enormous potential in that regard. Chile is the country closest to Antarctic, and Punta Arenas, our southern-most city, is the natural logistics base from which to supply operations there.

Exchanges on upward swing

As Chile and China deepen their links, greater mutual knowledge becomes indispensable.

In 2016, the Year of China-Latin America Cultural Exchanges, many cultural events took place, bringing Chinese artists to Chile, and Chilean ones to China. We are especially happy to have had our leading documentalist and filmmaker, Patricio Guzman, here in Beijing - on his first visit to China - for a retrospective of his award-winning work at the Ullens Center for Contemporary Arts, generating much interest.

China is a country of poets, and so is Chile - our two Nobel Prizes in Literature were poets - and sharing our literature with the Chinese reading public has been another priority.

At the embassy, we have therefore held book launches of two of Pablo Neruda's works in fresh Chinese translations - his memoirs and his lyrical poetry; of a Chinese edition of Gabriela Mistral's poetry; and have scheduled another one for Gonzalo Rojas' poetry, also in a new translation, for next June.

Looking ahead, we would like to continue to work with China on ways to strengthen the teaching of Mandarin in Chile. Mandarin is being taught at a number of schools.

The author is Chile's Ambassador to China.

(China Daily 05/15/2017 page37)