• Karla Flores was part of the team that accompanied President Gabriel Boric to the meeting with the Chinese leader, where the heads of state discussed various areas of strategic cooperation, including culture, energy transition, trade and sustainable development.

InvestChile Director Karla Flores had a busy protocol agenda on her final day in China as part of President Gabriel Boric’s tour of Asia. In the morning, Flores joined the Chilean delegation that accompanied the president in his meeting with the president of the People’s Republic of China, Xi Jinping at the Great Hall of the People.

During the meeting, the heads of state addressed various areas of strategic cooperation, including culture, energy transition, trade and sustainable development. Furthermore, both presidents talked about the importance of strengthening the United Nations system, as well as promoting multilateralism and free trade.

At the start of the meeting, President Boric stressed, “in Chile, we hold the deep conviction that when trade is free and designed to improve the well-being of the people, and not just a few, it brings reciprocal benefits. Being here today is a demonstration of our belief in multilateralism and that trade wars are not the way to address our problems or our differences.”

“Our unwavering commitment is to continue talking with all stakeholders. Chile is a country that believes in multilateralism, peace and dialogue, and that maintains relations with the European Union, the United States, the Asia-Pacific countries, China and our own region in Latin America, and we want to deepen that. We are part of the Belt and Road Initiative and part of global value chains, which we know are appreciated in China,” he added.

President Xi Jinping expressed, “this fully reflects the importance you attach to China-Chile relations, and I want to express my appreciation for that. China and Chile are staunch defenders of multilateralism and free trade.”

He added, “in the international context, strengthening cooperation between the two countries will have an even greater demonstrative effect. We are ready to work with you to further deepen cooperation in all areas between our two countries; to strengthen multilateral cooperation, continue enriching the comprehensive strategic relationship between China and Chile and jointly promote global peace and progress.”

Meeting with the vice president

Flores then traveled with the official delegation to the traditional Diaoyutai State Guesthouse to meet with Chinese Vice President Han Zheng.

The InvestChile director’s participation in President Boric’s tour of Asia included notable investment promotion activities in both Japan and China. In Japan, she spoke to more than 150 senior representatives of the local private sector, while in China she held discussions with more than 30 executives from companies operating in Chile, as well as companies interested in entering the Chilean market in sectors such as energy, infrastructure, mining and technology.

The tour also served to present to Asian investors the new Public Infrastructure Investment Opportunities Portal, developed by InvestChile and the General Concessions Department. For the first time, this multilingual platform brings together the project offer from different sectors in an integrated format. The platform currently has available background information for 15 projects totaling more than US$7.7 billion.