According to Andres Villar, director of Strategic Planning at Chile’s Foreign Ministry, Chile wants to become much more actively involved in the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), particularly in areas such as science, communications and investment, with an emphasis on the development of port infrastructure. Villar was speaking at a seminar this week in Santiago, organized by the Millennium Nucleus on China’s Impact in Latin America (ICLAC) and the Chinese embassy, with the participation of the Institute of Latin American Studies of China’s Academy of Social Sciences (ILAS-CASS). Diplomats, academics, government officials and private sector representatives participated in a lively discussion on increasing China-Chile cooperation in the context of the BRI, Xinhua reported Nov. 15.
This was also clearly related to discussions that President Gabriel Boric had during his very productive Oct. 12-18 state visit to China, during which he attended the Third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation, met with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing and visited two other cities, Chengdu in Sichuan province and Shanghai, with a large delegation of businessmen and lawmakers. Boric’s trip resulted in an “upgrading” of the strategic partnership with China, which included the signing of 13 cooperation agreements which the Foreign Ministry said would deepen the bilateral relationship to the benefit of both nations. Cooperation agreements included a plan for joint promotion of the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road. Special emphasis was placed on cooperation for economic and industrial development. Chile was the first Latin American nation to establish diplomatic ties with China in 1970 and China is its top trading partner.
