On December 6th, 2022, the 21st Century Business Herald published the full text of the exclusive interview with Chinese Ambassador to Chile Niu Qingbao. Ambassador Niu highlighted areas and prospects for China-Chile cooperation, particularly in economic and trade investment, Belt and Road cooperation and renewable energy. He spoke highly of Chile's support on China’s accession to the Digital Economy Partnership Agreement (DEPA) and underscored China’s accession to the DEPA would become a new propeller of China-Chile bilateral economic and trade cooperation, and conductive to sharing dividends of the global digital economy. China would work together with Chile to vigorously implement the important consensus reached by the two heads of state during the recent APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting, and promote new and greater development of our bilateral relations. The full text of the interview is as follows.
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1.To date, it has been over 50 years since China and Chile established diplomatic relations. How would you define the characteristics of our bilateral relations?
Ambassador Niu:
Since the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Chile 52 years ago, under the care of several generations of leaders and thanks to the joint efforts of the people of our two countries, our bilateral ties have maintained a sound momentum while pragmatic cooperation reaped harvests aplenty. China and Chile have set a fine example for solidarity and cooperation among emerging market countries. In my view, there are three distinguishing characteristics of China-Chile relations.
First, they are pioneering. Chile is the first Latin American country to establish diplomatic relations with China. Since the establishment of diplomatic ties, the China-Chile relationship has been a pioneer in China’s relations with Latin American countries. Chile is the first country in Latin America to sign bilateral agreements on its accession to the WTO, the first country to recognize China's full market economy status(MES), the first country to hold ministerial meetings of the China-CELAC Forum, and the first country to sign free trade agreements(FTA) with China and take the lead in the FTA upgrading.
Second, they are mutually beneficial. China has been Chile's largest trading partner and export market for 12 consecutive years. "China demand" has promoted the development of Chile's mining, agriculture, forestry, fishery and other industries, and helped improve local employment and people's living standards. After the outbreak of Covid-19, China and Chile have extended a helping hand to each other, while our joint fight against the pandemic has become a new promoter and a new highlight of cooperation between the two peoples. Chinese enterprises have actively participated in Chile's infrastructure construction, and continue to explore new areas of cooperation such as 5G, cloud computing, and new energy buses, providing important impetus for the optimization and upgrading of the Chilean economy.
Third, they are strategic. Both China and Chile are defenders of multilateralism, democratization of international relations and economic globalization. As comprehensive strategic partners, China-Chile relations have gone beyond the bilateral scope with an increasing regional and global influence. Chile have taken the lead in responding to the Belt and Road Initiative, and Chilean President have attended the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation twice to promote global connectivity. Since the outbreak of Covid-19, China and Chile have always supported WHO’s leading role in strengthening global health systems.
The 52-year relations between China and Chile are ushering in new opportunities with new missions. Not long ago, during the 29th APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting, President Xi Jinping met with President Gabriel Boric of Chile, and they charted the course for the future development of China-Chile relations in the new era. China-Chile relations will surely continue to make strides forward and better benefit the two countries and the world.
2.From 2010 to now, China has long been Chile's largest trading partner. In 2021, the volume of bilateral trade between China and Chile reached 61 billion dollars, with a year-on-year increase of 40%. China's foreign direct investment (FDI) in Chile accounts for 111% of its GDP. Considering changes in economic, trade and investment data, how do you view the characteristics and trends of economic and trade exchanges between the two countries at different stages?
Ambassador Niu:
China has been Chile's largest trading partner for 12 consecutive years. There was a massive upsurge of 39.8% growth in China-Chile trade last year, while it increased further by 10% year on year in the first three quarters of this year. Regarding China's investment in Chile, I don't have data on the proportion of China's investment in Chile's GDP, but China is indeed one of Chile's main sources of foreign investment. China's investment in Chile is based on equality, mutual benefit and win-win cooperation, which has brought tangible benefits to both sides, particularly to the region where projects are located.
Affected by Covid-19, facing a deteriorating business situation and weakening global economy, China-Chile economic and trade cooperation has shown strong resilience and vitality, which once again proves our cooperation is mutual beneficial. The economic and trade cooperation between the two countries is highly complementary with huge potential. China is accelerating the creation of a new development pattern and pursuing a higher level of opening up, which will also bring unlimited opportunities for China-Chile economic and trade cooperation.
3.For a long time, Chilean cherries, avocados and other agricultural products have been very popular among Chinese consumers. Would you please share some major achievements of agricultural trade between the two countries? And why?
Ambassador Niu:
As a producer and exporter of high-quality agricultural products, Chile is also a veritable fruit producer. Chilean cherries, avocados, salmon and other specialty products have gained an impressive international reputation, showing huge agricultural development potential.
Agricultural trade has been an important part of China-Chile relations. According to Chilean customs data, in the first three quarters of 2022, Chile's agricultural exports totaled 20.16 billion dollars, of which 4.02 billion dollars worth was exported to China, the largest export destination for Chilean agricultural products. For example, the 1.35 billion dollars of fresh cherries exported to China accounted for 88.2% of the total export of Chilean fresh cherries, which not only brought tangible benefits to Chinese consumers and Chilean growers, but served as a bridge between China and Chile to enhance mutual understanding and emotional bond between the two peoples.
Agricultural trade between the two countries, especially the export of Chilean agricultural products to China, has delivered a robust performance. There are two main reasons. First, Chile abounds in good quality agricultural products due to its advanced agricultural planting technology and favorable climate conditions in central Chile. Second, for China, high-quality agricultural products are in high demand, while Chile has long attached great importance to the Chinese market while achieving good results. Third, seasonal changes in the two countries are complementary, as the supply season of Chile corresponds to winter in China with relatively scarce resources. Fourth, in 2019 the protocol on upgrading the China-Chile Free Trade Agreement (FTA) took effect, and in 2021 the two countries signed inspection and quarantine requirement protocol for the export of Chilean frozen fruits to China, which further guaranteed and facilitated Chile's agricultural exports to China.
4.Given factors such as agricultural complementarity and food security, what are your views on the prospects for cooperation in agriculture and agricultural trade between the two countries?
Ambassador Niu:
Chile is a major producer and exporter of agricultural products, while China is the largest export market for Chilean agricultural products. With a solid foundation for agricultural trade cooperation, the two sides should further promote mutually beneficial cooperation from a strategic perspective. We should work together to cope with agricultural challenges, maintain stable agricultural development, enhance the resilience of agricultural supply chains, actively promote international food security and agricultural technological cooperation, and promote sustainable development of mankind.
5.In November 2018, Chile and China signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on the Belt and Road Initiative. In recent years, boosted by the Initiative and other factors, Chinese enterprises have successively invested in Chile. How do you see the role of the Belt and Road Initiative in economic and trade exchanges between the two countries?
Ambassador Niu:
Chile is an important strategic partner of China on Belt and Road cooperation in Latin America. With a well-matched positioning of Belt and Road cooperation, the two sides have formulated relevant plans and built cooperation platforms to take the lead in the comprehensive bilateral development in the post-epidemic era. Following the principle of achieving shared growth through discussion and collaboration, they have made great progress to promote connectivity in policies, trade and finance, and enhance people-to-people bonds. It can be said that the Belt and Road Initiative has provided policy guidance, facility guarantee, financial convenience and public support for economic and trade relations between the two countries. China-Chile trade benefits from the Initiative, while it will also help further deepen the Belt and Road cooperation between the two countries.
6.Boosted by the Belt and Road Initiative and other factors, Chinese enterprises have successively invested in Chile. In recent years, what are the overall characteristics and trends of projects invested by Chinese enterprises in Chile?
Ambassador Niu:
Overall, projects of Chinese enterprises in Chile have been "massive and diversified" in recent years. Those enterprises have actively invested in various fields of Chile such as electricity, communications, and infrastructure. A number of large-scale projects have been implemented, making important contributions to Chile's post-epidemic employment growth and economic recovery. Boosted by the Belt and Road Initiative and other factors, projects of Chinese enterprises in Chile have developed further with massive investment, rapid construction, scientific and technological solutions, wide coverage and a strong development momentum.
7.The franchise project of Talca-Chillán section of Route 5 Highway, which had been contracted by China Railway Construction Corporation Limited (CRCC), was put into operation in April 2021. Can you please share your thoughts on the significance of this project for local development and China-Chile cooperation? Among other flagship projects of Belt and Road cooperation, which one impressed you the most?
Ambassador Niu:
On August 12th local time, two main toll stations in Talca-Chillán section of Route 5 Highway were completed by the CRCC and put into trial operation, which were responded very favorably. This project followed the principle of achieving shared growth through discussion and collaboration, and applied the concept of openness, greenness and cleanness. It proved as one of the highlights of China-Chile cooperation, and epitomized the practical results of Chinese enterprises’ active participation in the Belt and Road Initiative and the high-quality development of the Initiative. This project created a large number of local jobs and played a positive role in promoting the economic recovery of Chile, while at the same time working very well in introducing advanced technologies, promoting industrial development and improving people's livelihood.
8.How do you see the future development of Belt and Road cooperation between China and Chile? What potentials can we further explore in the fields of energy and minerals?
Ambassador Niu:
During the 29th APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting, President Xi Jinping met with President Gabriel Boric of Chile to reach extensive consensus on strengthening strategic alignment, enhancing high-quality Belt and Road cooperation, deepening traditional pragmatic cooperation, and exploring new potentials. They charted the political course and injected strong impetus into the development of China-Chile comprehensive strategic partnership, including their mutually beneficial economic and trade relations.
For the consensus reached by the two heads of state, China and Chile will vigorously step up to implement in deepening pragmatic cooperation in economic, trade, investment, agricultural and other areas, strengthening traditional cooperation in agriculture, mining, transportation, energy and other fields while exploring new prospects of bilateral cooperation on public health, clean energy and digital economy. The two sides should work together to create more growth drivers in cooperation. It is believed that to include Chile as part of the Belt and Road Initiative will bring China-Chile economic and trade cooperation to new heights and benefit further our two peoples.
9.In order to address the challenge of climate change, more than 100 countries and regions, including China and Chile, proposed to set net-zero emission targets. The Chilean government officially launched its National Green Hydrogen Strategy in 2020. Given their respective strengths and complementarities in renewable energy, would you please elaborate on specific areas for cooperation in renewable energy between the two countries?
Ambassador Niu:
Due to its special geographical location, Chile has long attached great importance to ecological environmental protection and taken an active part in global governance to address the threat of climate change. Since 2019, the Chilean government has set its 2050 goal to be carbon neutral and launched its National Green Hydrogen Strategy as well as other supporting plans in the field of new energy. It is striving to become one of the world's major suppliers of clean energy after 2030.
Prospects for China-Chile wide-ranging cooperation in renewable energy are promising. Southern Chile abounds in wind energy resources, while in northern Chile, there is enduring and intense solar radiation. Coupled with the Chilean government's preferential policies to support the investment and development of new energy industries, the comprehensive business environment of Chile is much friendly. Chinese enterprises, with advantages on technology and equipment in solar and wind energies, can coordinate with Chile in solar and wind energy resources and strive to develop clean energy. They can help Chile achieve the goal of carbon neutrality by 2050 and meet the goal of "Green Hydrogen", which will surely benefit the Chilean society and its people.
10.In August 2022, in accordance with the decision of the Joint Committee of the Digital Economy Partnership Agreement (DEPA), the Accession Working Group (AWG) was formally established to comprehensively advance the negotiations on China's accession to the DEPA. How do you see the prospects of China's accession to the DEPA, or how China's accession to the DEPA will benefit the cooperation and their respective development of China and Chile in digital economy?
Ambassador Niu:
In November 2021, China formally filed an application to join the DEPA. In August this year, through careful evaluation by its member states, the Joint Committee of DEPA agreed to establish an Accession Working Group (AWG) . As a founding member of DEPA, Chile chaired the AWG. When meeting with President Xi Jinping, President Gabriel Boric stated clearly that Chile supported China’s accession to the DEPA. I am confident in the prospects for China’s accession to the DEPA.
As the world's second largest digital economy, China is accelerating digital development to build itself a digital country, and steadily expanding institutional opening up with regard to rules, regulations, management, and standards. China’s accession to the DEPA will help promote opening up in digital trade and establish an integrated digital trade market with common rules and standards. It will expand mutually beneficial cooperation in emerging digital fields, bring not only business opportunities for enterprises in digital industry cooperation, but promote the development of the digital economy of all parties. China has been active in advancing the process of its accession to the DEPA, and will enhance the influence of the DEPA as broader international digital economy rules. I believe China's accession to the DEPA will become a new propeller of our bilateral economic and trade cooperation. It can enable Chinese and Chilean enterprises to cooperate further under the framework of the DEPA and share dividends of the global digital economy, which will not only bring greater benefits to those enterprises and our two peoples, but can jointly make positive contributions to the development of the global digital economy.
