Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji said he hoped that China and Chile would further explore new means and forms of cooperation in the course of strengthening their existing economic and trade ties.
Zhu made the remarks Wednesday morning in Beijing during a meeting with visiting Chilean President Ricardo Lagos Escobar, who is on a state visit to China as the guest of Chinese President Jiang Zemin.
Zhu recalled his visit to Chile in 1996 and said he is convinced that the president's current visit to China will push forward the development of Sino-Chilean relations.
Zhu noted that although China and Chile are geographically separated, the two peoples are closely connected and bilateral relations have been growing.
Bilateral reciprocal cooperation has recorded great achievements in the past 31 years of diplomatic ties, and recent high-level contacts have enhanced understanding, friendship and cooperation between the two sides, he said.
Noting that China and Chile became each other's second largest trade partner last year, Zhu said that the two economies, currently in an important development period, are highly complementary and have vast potential for cooperation.
He made note of the extensive contacts between Chinese businessmen and their Chilean counterparts, who are accompanying Escobar during the visit.
Zhu pointed out that the Chinese government welcomes Chilean investment and encourages Chinese entrepreneurs to go to Chile and other Latin American countries.
He said he hoped that the two sides would make joint efforts to expand cooperation.
Escobar offered his congratulations on China's success in hosting the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meetings, saying that given the current international situation, high attendance of so many world leaders was a success in itself.
The meetings yielded important achievements, added the president.
He said that bilateral relations have developed well in the past few years with more and more high-level contacts, citing that he has met with Jiang three times in nearly a year.
He went on to say that bilateral economic and trade exchanges and cooperation have progressed rapidly, and bilateral trade volume has increased four times since 1996.
He called his visit a success, hailing the two cooperative agreements signed in Beijng and the seminar on bilateral cooperation in the copper industry held in Beijing Tuesday, as well as the model farm set up between the two sides.
(Xinhua News Agency October 24, 2001)
