China looks forward to deepening cooperation with Chile and elevating bilateral ties, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman said on Monday, when expressing expectations for the upcoming China visit by Chilean Foreign Minister Francisco Perez Mackenna.
Perez is scheduled to pay an official visit to China from Tuesday to Saturday at the invitation of Wang Yi, a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and Chinese foreign minister.
"Chile is an important country in Latin America, the Caribbean and the Asia-Pacific region, and it was the first South American nation to establish diplomatic ties with the People's Republic of China. Over the more than half a century since the establishment of diplomatic ties, China-Chile relations have been at the forefront of China's relations with Latin American and Caribbean countries," said Lin Jian, the spokesman, at a regular press briefing in Beijing.
"In recent years, under the strategic guidance of the heads of state of the two countries, China-Chile relations have continued to make new progress, with increasingly strong political mutual trust, more frequent exchanges at all levels, and deepening cooperation across various fields," he called.
"This year marks the 10th anniversary of the establishment of China-Chile comprehensive strategic partnership. China looks forward to taking this visit as an opportunity to have an in-depth exchange of views with the Chilean side on bilateral relations and on international and regional issues of mutual interest, renew friendship, expand consensus and deepen cooperation, so as to bring bilateral ties to a new level," said the spokesman.
China expects Chilean foreign minister's visit to help promote ties: spokesman
