Xi, Bachelet witness upgrade of China-Chile FTA

Chinese President Xi Jinping and his Chilean counterpart Michelle Bachelet witness the signing of a bilateral deal on upgrading the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between the two countries in Da Nang, Vietnam, Nov. 11, 2017. (Xinhua/Ding Lin)

Chinese President Xi Jinping and his Chilean counterpart, Michelle Bachelet, on Saturday witnessed the signing of a bilateral deal on upgrading the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between the two countries.

Xi underlined that this is China's first FTA upgrade completed with a Latin American country.

The upgraded agreement will unleash new impetus for the practical cooperation between China and Chile and set a new benchmark for China's cooperation with other Latin American countries as well as a new role model to the world, he said.

Bachelet congratulated Xi on the success of the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China and wished that greater achievements would be made in the implementation of the Belt and Road Initiative.

The Chile-China relationship has made many firsts in the course of developing relations between Latin America and China, said Bachelet, adding that her country will carry forward the pioneering spirit and advance the practical cooperation between the two sides.

Chile is the first Latin American country to sign a free trade agreement with China.

Negotiations for upgrading the FTA were initiated during Xi's state visit to Chile in November 2016 and the agreement was completed a year later.