CHILEAN Minister of Foreign Affairs Roberto Ampuero Espinoza is leading an impressive delegation to the expo.

“We have three ministers, two sub-secretaries of state, one former president and 60 entrepreneurs,” he said. “We are showing China our support for the expo.”

Chile has two exhibition areas, one to showcase Chile as a country and the other to show its main products, its wine, fruit and food. Since the two countries signed a free trade agreement in 2007, the bilateral trade volume has been increasing year by year, reaching nearly US$35 billion last year.

“We have been working on traditional areas in mining, food, fish and wine,” he said. “But at the same time we are going to add more science, technology and innovation.”

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 fruit.

He said cherries had become a very important export product with about 90 percent of the cherries it produces sent to China. The Chilean government will be increasing its budget to promote agricultural products in China.