Chilean President Ricardo Lagos on Wednesday said the Sino-Chilean trade in cargo agreement is beneficial to his country's economic and social development.

The agreement will greatly increase Chile's export to China, create more jobs and further increase the income of labors.

After the agreement comes into effect, Chile will be able to import more commodities at lower cost from China, such as computers, cars and DVD players, which will benefit ordinary families to a large extent, Lagos said when he was meeting the visiting Chinese Labor and Social Security Vice Minister Wang Dongjin.

Wang and his Chilean counterpart, Cristobal Pascal, have also signed a cooperation agreement on labor and social security on Wednesday afternoon aimed at securing the sound working conditions for labors and realizing the fair competitions in international trade.

Chile always attaches due attention to guaranteeing labors' rights and interests, Lagos said.

China is Chile's second largest trading partner after the US, while Chile is China's third largest trading partner in Latin America following Brazil and Mexico.

The trade in cargo agreement is a significant step toward the establishment of a free trade area (FTA), on which an agreement is expected to be signed within the year, according to the Ministry of Commerce.

China and Chile also plan to kick off negotiations on a free market in services and investment in the first half of 2006. Chileis likely to become the second trade partner to build an FTA with China, only after the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

(Xinhua News Agency November 3, 2005)