Visiting Chinese Commerce Minister Bo Xilai met Chilean Foreign Minister Soledad Alvear here Wednesday evening to discuss bilateral economic cooperation and the feasibility of a free trade agreement.

China is ready to accelerate the feasibility study on establishing free bilateral trade with Chile and wishes that Chile acknowledges China as a market economy as soon as possible in order to create an important condition for the long-term development of bilateral trade and economic ties, Bo told Alvear at the meeting.

Both ministers are attending a meeting here of trade ministers of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum. Trade ministers from 21 Asia Pacific economies, controlling nearly half of world trade, are meeting this weekend in Pucon, a resort town in the mountains 700 km south of the capital of Santiago.

Thanks to the smooth development of bilateral economic ties in the past years, Chile has become China's third biggest trade partner in Latin America, and China has become Chile's third trade partner in the world. The trade volume between them reached 3.5 billion US dollars in 2003, Bo said.

In April this year, the two nations began a feasibility study on opening free bilateral trade. China now is seriously considering and actively pushing forward this endeavor and hopes both sides will end the study before the informal meeting of APEC members' leaders in November 2004, Bo said.

China has made great progress in setting up and improving its market economy and maintained a sustainable economic growth for 25years, and some key states in the world have granted China the status of a market economy, said the Chinese minister. He expressed the hope that Chile will also offer China such a status in an early day.

Alvear, chairman of the upcoming ministerial meeting, appreciated China's efforts and achievements in developing a market economy and said that Santiago would make an earliest response to Beijing's concern.

She stressed that Chile would not take unjust or discriminatorymeasures against China's goods and commodities.

Chile attaches great significance to the talks over a free trade agreement with China and looks forward to early progress in the work, said Alvear.

She proposed the two countries expand their cooperation in the copper industry.

The two ministers also exchanged views on the trade of livestock and aquatic products, fruits and nuts.

In a statement issued Thursday, the Chilean Foreign Ministry said the two countries' officials exchanged a series of proposals aimed at reaching a free trade agreement.

The Chinese delegation in the talks was headed by assistant to the commerce minister Yi Xiaozhun, while Chile was represented by Osvaldo Rosales, who handles economic issues for the foreign ministry.

The two governments "express their satisfaction for the progress recorded in this joint study which reflects the stated interest in advancing commercial relations," read the statement
 
(Xinhua News Agency June 4, 2004)