Chilean Minister of Foreign Affairs Roberto Ampuero Espinozais in Shanghai, leading a big delegation to attend the first China International Import Expo and to further promote relations with China.

“This expo is very important opportunity for Chile because it’s a clear sign from China to the world in terms of open market and free trade,” he said. “For Chile, free trade is very important because all the development and success in our economy we have achieved is based on free trade. So it is a big opportunity to come here to China and to show our products. We have very close relations with China. We have a wonderful free trade agreement and this is an additional opportunity for Chile to show its products.”

Chile has two exhibition areas at the expo — one to show Chile as a country and the other to show its main products, its wine, fruit and food.

“And we have a very high-level delegation,” said the minister. “We have three ministers, two sub-secretaries of state, one former president and 60 entrepreneurs. This is a very important delegation that we are going to show China our support to the import expo.”

China is the most important trade partner for Chile while Chile is the second most important trade partner in South America for China.

Since the two countries signed a free trade agreement in 2007, the bilateral trade volume has been increasing year by year and achieved nearly US$35 billion last year.

“We are very happy with that development but we want more. So we are using this expo to show more of our products,” said the minister. “We have been working on traditional areas in mining, food, fish and wine. They are very important and we will keep them and develop them. But at the same time we are going to add more science, technology and innovation.”

Chilean Minister of Agriculture Antonio Walker Prieto said Chile exported US$3 billion of agricultural products to China last year and this year the volume had reached US$3.5 billion. It is expected to double in the following six years.

He said more than 30 enterprises and industrial associations are displaying their products at the expo, including fruit, vitamins, wine and meat. Visitors can taste fresh Chilean fruit, such as cherries, apples, nectarines, blueberries, avocados and kiwi fruits.

He said cherries had become a very important export product with about 90 percent of the cherries it produces sent to China.

During the expo, Chile will sign a series of agreements with China to promote bilateral trade cooperation, including one to import fresh Chinese jujube to Chile and another on a sea-air transport scheme which will mean fresher Chilean fruit for Chinese consumers.

The scheme will enable fresh fruit to be shipped to America first and then transported to China by plane to reduce the process to within 15 days, compared to the 35 days it takes by sea.

Prieto said the Chilean government would be increasing its budget to promote agricultural products in China, including attending the import expo every year.