China and Chile are to sign an agreement next Tuesday cementing
their cooperation in developing a joint copper industry.
China
Minmetal Corporation (CMC) is to be the first Chinese
enterprise to invest in Chile's copper production.
CMC will establish joint ventures (JV) with Chilean enterprises.
Part of the JV's copper production will be imported to China, said
Nicolas Eyzaguirre, Chile's Financial Minister.
For the time being, the GABY Mine in the north of Chile will be
open to Chinese investment and Minmetal will have the first option
to acquire a minimum 25 and maximum 49 percent share of the JV, the
minister said.
China is the world's largest copper importer with its copper
consumption accounting for about 22 percent of the world's total
last year. This is mainly due to China's dramatic development of
electricity power generating and telecommunications facilities.
Following the signing of the JV agreement, a third round of
China and Chile's Free Trade Agreement (FTA) talks is set to be
held next month in Wuxi, Jiangsu Province.
First round talks were held in Beijing in January and the second
round talks in April in Chile's capital Santiago.
According to Eyzaguirre, Chile and its neighboring countries
have been staying proactive in production lines needed by China,
such as mining, food production, forestry and fish farming.
As well as supplying China, South American countries also import
a lot of goods from China, the minister stressed, including
consumer and capital goods. As Chile and Latin America move forward
their market can match China's, he said.
Talking about current FTA talks between the two countries, Mario
Ignacio Artaza, chair of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation
Budget and Management Committee, said: "Things are going OK and we
would expect the agreement would come in the near future."
Eyzaguirre also had talks with his Chinese counterpart Jin
Renqing on Friday in Beijing.
"We had a fruitful and very challenging conversation today.
China and Chile are both actively looking to bridge the Pacific
through active investment and cooperation," the Chilean minister
said.
Next Monday, the China-Chile Business Council will be
established. "The China-Chile Business Council can add value to a
unique relationship between two nations of the Pacific," the
Chilean minister said.
"The council offers an opportunity to achieve a sound FTA
between member countries. There are many areas where China and
Chile can benefit through closer interaction between private
sectors and government representatives."
(China Daily May 28, 2005)