Chile, China to sign free trade accord
(AP)
Updated: 2005-10-29 10:28

Chile and China have "successfully ended" a yearlong negotiation for a free trade accord and the presidents of the two nations will sign it next month, Foreign Minister Ignacio Walker announced Friday.

"It will be the first free trade accord signed by China with a Latin American nation," Walker told Radio Cooperativa of Santiago from Beijing. "It will bring more and better jobs for Chileans."

Walker was in Beijing for the fifth and final round of negotiations for the accord.

He said Presidents Ricardo Lagos of Chile and Hu Jintao will sign the accord when they meet in South Korea next month for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit. The agreement will become into effect during the first half of 2006.
The accord is expected to quickly increase bilateral trade between Chile and China, which reached US$6 billions (euro5 billions) in 2004 with a US$2 billion (euro1.6 billion) surplus for Chile, caused mainly by massive copper sales to China's booming economy.

The accord will lift customs fees on the trade of most products from the moment of the signature and Walker said the next step is to add investments and services.

Chile had earlier signed free trade accords with the United States, South Korea, Mexico, Canada, the European Union, New Zealand, Singapore, and has advanced talks with India and Japan.