The State visit by Chinese President Jiang Zemin to Chile on April 5-7 will promote bilateral relations, Chile's Foreign Minister Soledad Alvear said on Wednesday.

Chile will be the first stop in Jiang's Latin American tour which also includes State visits to Argentina, Uruguay, Cuba and Venezuela, as well as a working visit to Brazil.

Chile was the first Latin American country to recognize the People's Republic of China, and also the first to carry out bilateral negotiations with the Asian giant on the World Trade Organization (WTO), with a bilateral agreement reached in 1999.

Alvear said the fact that Chile is among the three most important trade partners of China in Latin America "shows the good state of bilateral relations between Chile and China" for the past 30 years.

Alvear visited China last year as a member of the delegation of the Group of Rio, along with foreign ministers of Colombia and Mexico. Alvear noted that she was deeply impressed by the great economic achievements China had made in the previous 20 years.

Minister Alvear underscored the success of the First Ministerial Meeting of the Latin America-East Asia Forum, which took place last week in Santiago with the participation of the Chinese Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan.

President of Chile Ricardo Lagos will also visit China this year, within the framework of the business summit of the Asia- Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) 2001, scheduled for October in Shanghai, according to Alvear.

This year, Chile will be in charge of the pro tempore presidency of the Group of Rio, and aims to be a bridge between Asian and Latin American countries, so that it will promote cooperation between China and the regional organization, according to Alvear.

She said that Jiang Zemin's visit to Chile will be a good beginning toward strengthening and deepening of ties between both countries in the new century.

(Xinhua 04/05/2001)