China wants to boost mutual investment with Chile: ambassador

Chile, Aug. 14, 2010 (Xinhua News Agency) -- China attaches great importance to economic cooperation with Chile and is committed to boosting mutual investment between the two countries, the Chinese ambassador to Chile has said.

Speaking at Chile's national steel (OOTC:NSTLQ) conference on Friday, Lu Fan said there was a severe lack of mutual investment between China and Chile despite an increase in bilateral trade volumes in recent years.

The trade volume between China and Chile reached 17.42 billion U.S. dollars in 2009, during which Chilean exports increased by 31 percent year on year, and this year trade continued to grow, Lu said.

In the first half of this year, bilateral trade reached 10.9 billion dollars, an increase of 58.9 percent compared with the same period of 2009, and Chilean exports amounted to 7.65 billion dollars, he said.

"This has further strengthened China's position as the leading trading partner of Chile. At the same time, bilateral trade continues to diversify. In addition to copper and other mineral products, exports of wine, fruit and meat products have also gained rapid development," he said.

However, there is "a severe lack of mutual investment between the two countries," the Chinese ambassador said.

The Chinese government encouraged and facilitated its enterprises to invest in the South American country to further develop economic cooperation, he said.

The Supplementary Agreement on Trade in Services of the Free Trade Agreement between China and Chile took effect on Aug. 1, and negotiations are underway on a supplementary agreement on investment.