Chinese Premier Li Keqiang arrived in the Chilean capital Santiago for the final leg of his South American tour on Sunday, May 24. Chile is to be the last among the Latin American nations included in Premier Li’s four-nation tour.
Chile holds the distinction as the first South American country China established diplomatic ties with, and the first nation in South America with which China signed a free trade agreement. Diplomatic relations between Chile and China officially began on Dec. 15, 1970.
According to Premier Li, the main objective of his visit to Chile is to strengthen traditional friendship and mutual trust.
"(My visit also aims at) transferring the potential of mutually beneficial cooperation into the impetus for speeding up common development, so as to lift China-Chile strategic partnership to a new height from a new starting point," said Premier Li.
Other topics in the Chinese Premier's agenda include bilateral cooperation in fields such as finance, industrial capacity, infrastructure construction, equipment manufacturing, and free trade area.
Premier Li is set to hold talks with Chilean President Michelle Bachelet. The two leaders are also scheduled to attend a joint press conference and an economic and trade symposium to commemorate the 45th> anniversary of the establishment of China-Chile bilateral diplomatic ties.
"We want to continue along this same path, strengthening and expanding our ties, our exchange, and our knowledge of each other," said President Bachelet.
Also included in the Premier's itinerary is to deliver a speech at the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) in Santiago.