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| Wu Bangguo (R) meets with visiting Chilean President Sebastian Pinera in Beijing, capital of China, Nov. 17, 2010. (Xinhua/Ding Lin) |
BEIJING, Nov. 17 (Xinhua) -- China and Chile Wednesday pledged to expand bilateral cooperation and boost exchanges between the two parliaments.
The two sides made the commitments during Chilean President Sebastian Pinera's separate meetings with Chinese top legislator Wu Bangguo and Premier Wen Jiabao in Beijing.
Pinera highlighted the recent growth of the bilateral relations in his meeting with Wu, chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC), China's top legislature, saying two countries had forged close ties through similar experiences and shared development aspirations.
Wu said the development of China-Chile relations had brought substantial benefits to the two peoples.
Chile was the first Latin American country to establish a diplomatic relationship with China and sign a bilateral agreement on China's entry into the World Trade Organization, to recognize China's full market economy status and sign a bilateral free trade agreement with China.
Wu said China regarded Chile as a very important country in Latin America.
Wu suggested the two legislatures promote dialogue and exchanges of views among members on the successful experience of national construction in order to inject new vitality to the development of the bilateral relations.
Premier Wen also recognized the growth of the bilateral relations in his meeting with Pinera. He told the Chilean president that China and Chile shared huge potential and broad prospects on trade cooperation.
He called on the two sides to give a full play of the bilateral free trade agreement and promote two-way cooperation in sectors such as services and investment.
Wen said China encouraged the two business communities to intensify cooperation and expand mutual investment, suggesting the two governments provide better conditions to boost cooperation.
China would step up ties with Chile in a comprehensive way, Wen said, expressing his confidence in a productive future for bilateral economic cooperation.
Chile is China's second biggest trade partner in Latin America and China is Chile's biggest trade partner. Bilateral trade last year rose 2.1 percent to 17.72 billion dollars.
Pinera, on his first China visit since taking office as Chilean president in March, said Chile attached great importance to relations with China and would work with China to further cooperation and investment.
Pinera's visit came when the two countries marked the 40th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties. China and Chile forged a comprehensive cooperative partnership in 2004.
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| Wu Bangguo (R, front), chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People' s Congress, China's top legislature, meets with visiting Chilean President Sebastian Pinera in Beijing, capital of China, Nov. 17, 2010. (Xinhua/Ding Lin) |