President calls for removal of trade barriers
(China Daily)
Updated: 2005-11-19 06:45

Free trade deal

In another development, China and Chile on Friday signed a free trade agreement, the first of its kind between China and a Latin American country.

The pact was signed by Minister of Commerce Bo Xilai and Chilean Foreign Minister Ignacio Walker. President Hu and his Chilean counterpart, Ricardo Lagos, attended the signing ceremony.

Both China and Chile are members of the 21-member APEC forum.

The free trade zone will help push bilateral relations in the political, economic and trade fields to a new high, Hu said.

"For Chile, this is extremely important," Lagos said, adding that China has become its second most important partner in terms of international trade.

Under the deal, the two countries will launch a tariff reduction process on July 1, 2006.

In a statement on its website, China's Ministry of Commerce said the agreement would lead to the reduction of tariffs, and enhance co-operation in areas such as small- and medium-sized enterprises, education, science and technology, environmental protection, labour and social security, as well as investment promotion.

The ministry described the agreement as "a new historical milestone" that would promote close co-operation between China and other Latin American countries.

The agreement has 14 chapters and 121 articles on topics such as market access, rules of origin, technical barriers to trade, animal and plant quarantine, and dispute settlement mechanisms.

The deal was welcomed by business leaders. "The free trade agreement is a historic step for free trade important for China, important for Chile, important for Latin America," said Mauro Mazzacurati, the president of delivery company DHL's operation in Chile.

The free trade negotiations were launched by the Chinese and Chilean presidents in November last year when Hu paid a state visit to Chile. It is the second free trade agreement China has signed and follows the one between China and ASEAN.