Chile’s Boric meets Xi Jinping on 3rd Belt and Road forum sidelines

Beijing, Oct 17 (EFE).- Chilean President Gabriel Boric met Tuesday with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping, on the sidelines of the third Belt and Road forum held in Beijing.

The Chinese president highlighted at the beginning of the meeting that Boric is the third leader from the South American nation to attend this forum, after Michelle Bachelet and Sebastian Pinera, “something unique within Latin American and Caribbean countries,” state broadcaster CCTV reported.

Xi said Chile is a pioneer in many aspects of its relationship with China, adding that it was the first in South America to establish relations with Beijing and one of the first to support the Belt and Road initiative, which seeks to attract what it calls the Global South with multimillion-dollar investment projects.

The Chilean leader, who began on Saturday his first official trip to China in the province of Sichuan and arrived in Beijing on Sunday night, seeks with this visit to “strengthen the relations of both countries.”

The Chilean president said the relationship with China “should not be limited only to commercial and economic exchange” during the Sunday inauguration of Chile Week in the city of Chengdu, but should also advance in “greater scientific and technological cooperation.”

Boric will participate Wednesday in the high-level segment of the Third New Silk Roads Forum, China’s main international economic initiative to consolidate its influence through structuring and infrastructure, which this year celebrates its decade. EFE

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