The Consulate General of Chile in Guangzhou holds the National Day reception on September 19, 2025, in Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, China. (Photo: Liu Xiaodi/South)
The Consulate General of Chile in Guangzhou hosted a National Day reception on September 19 in Guangzhou, the capital city of South China's Guangdong Province.
The year 2025 marks the 55th anniversary of China-Chile diplomatic relations and the 20th anniversary of the signing of the bilateral free trade agreement.
Addressing the event, Li Xin, vice chairwoman of the Guangdong Provincial Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, highlighted that over the past half-century, China and Chile have maintained robust ties, with their relationship long at the forefront of China's cooperation with Latin American and Caribbean countries.
She noted that under this strong bilateral relationship, Guangdong and Chile have expanded cooperation in trade, investment, scientific innovation, and cultural exchanges, yielding fruitful results.
In 2024, trade between Guangdong and Chile reached about 50.2 billion yuan (around 7 billion USD), an increase of 7.2 percent year-on-year, accounting for 11.47 percent of China's total trade with Chile. Li stated that this demonstrated the resilience and potential of bilateral cooperation.
Collaboration has also deepened in other fields. For example, Dongguan University of Technology and the Universidad de La Frontera in Chile have signed an agreement to establish the China-Chile International Joint Laboratory for Marine Disaster Prevention and Emergency Response, further enhancing maritime cooperation between the two countries and across Latin America.
César Andrés Gamboa Alarcón, consul general of Chile in Guangzhou, emphasized that Chile was the first South American country to establish diplomatic relations with China and the first Latin American nation to support China's accession to the World Trade Organization.
"Since 2009, China has become our main commercial partner and has remained so to this day," Gamboa said. "The authorities on both sides have underscored the importance of strengthening multilateral systems in promoting free trade."
Looking ahead, Li noted that Guangdong is advancing comprehensive reforms and expanding high-level opening-up while promoting the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area into a new stage of development.
"We are ready to work closely with the consulate general and friends from all sectors to further advance pragmatic and mutually beneficial cooperation in trade, technology, agriculture, infrastructure, the digital economy, green development, energy, and biomedicine," Li said.
Reporter | Liu Xiaodi
Photographer | Liu Xiaodi
Editor | Yuan Zixiang, James Campion, Shen He
