CGTN held a media forum in the Chilean capital, with the participation of three experts, who gave their views on issues related to economic development, geopolitics, infrastructure and even technology, in order to present the achievements of the Belt and Road initiative in the last 10 years, both in Chile and in other countries of the Latin American region.

Chile was the first country in South America to establish diplomatic relations with China and for more than half a century, the ties between the two countries have been strengthened, becoming an example of bilateral cooperation and shared gains.

In the framework of the 10th anniversary of the Belt and Road initiative, the expert on Sino-Latin American relations, Monica Ahumada, highlighted interconnectivity as one of the great advances. In addition, Ahumada referred to the development of infrastructure in Chile as one of the great challenges.

“I would say that the main contribution of The Belt and Road is to understand that relations in the world today go through an absolutely interconnected world, and China will be proposed from the speech of President Xi Jinping in 2013 to make a new era in which the world is united between the maritime strip and the land route.”

“Because when one thinks of Chile, in all the demand we have in terms of transport and infrastructure, Chile is a country that is 4,200 km long, and it is a country in which we are behind in this area. So, for me, the development of infrastructure is fundamental”.

China’s strategic wellbeing policy has been exemplary. This was expressed by the former Chilean Minister of State, Marcos Barraza, during his intervention in the media forum organised by CGTN.
Barraza also referred to the visit of Chilean President Gabriel Boric to China, highlighting mining as the main focus of attention among the issues to be promoted.

“The most remarkable thing is that China’s role in international politics and multilateralism is that on the one hand it deploys a strategic policy of wellbeing or shared prosperity between nations, something that they define as win-win, on the other hand it acts in the world concert of multilateralism, if it were not for China the excessive weight of the United States would be even more harmful from the point of view of the sovereignty of countries, and thirdly, it is an active promoter of world peace, Its actions in the United Nations Security Council have demonstrated this, so the link that China and Chile have been building is a link that I hope will become much stronger, just as there is economic exchange, it is necessary to know the results of the model, but also how it was done, with regard to China’s positive and profitable indicators in terms of social policies, economic policies, technological redistribution, something that is very necessary for Chile from the point of view of exchange”.

“I believe that China’s investment capacity in mining, particularly in lithium and copper, will be strengthened, and I believe that on a cultural level there will be positive results from the point of view of exchange, especially in education and electromobility, without a doubt.

The economist from the Centre for National Alternative Development Studies, Manuel Riesco, highlighted the impact that the Belt and Road initiative has had on Chile’s country strategy.
“The relationship between the two countries has a long tradition and has allowed for the deepening of political and economic ties. The signing of the FTA in 2005 is one of the most relevant milestones. I would like to add that these relations were re-established in 1970 as soon as the government of President Salvador Allende took office, and the main economic work of this government, together with the Agrarian Reform, was the nationalisation of copper, the expropriation of the US companies that for a century exploited our copper and only sold to the United States, and the government of President Allende created CODELCO, which to this day is the largest copper company in the world, and the first measure was to start selling copper to China, today China is our main client, in copper and in exports in general”.

New Silk Road Journey: Dialogue on Chile-China cooperation in the construction of the Belt and Road, was a special programme carried out by CGTN whose objective was to explore and interpret the important role that global initiatives such as the Belt and Road have played in promoting the comprehensive strategic partnership between China and Chile.