Chancellor Ampuero signs cooperation agreement between Chile and China for the Belt and Route initiative

The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Roberto Ampuero, came to the National Development and Reform Commission of China to sign the Cooperation Agreement between the two countries, within the framework of the Belt and Route initiative.

On the Chinese side, the President of the National Development and Reform Commission, He Lifeng, signed the agreement.

After signing the agreement, Chancellor Ampuero declared: "At the instruction of President Sebastián Piñera, we signed the memorandum of understanding between Chile and China within the framework of the Belt and Route initiative. We are happy because this initiative will allow us to enter a new stage of collaboration between both countries".

Along with this, the Chancellor added that "it will fundamentally allow us to explore many ways of cooperating and developing infrastructure for our country. And that is what we need in Chile, we are a country that has been modernized a lot, that needs investments and financing in infrastructure with roads, ports, bridges, railway renovation among other things".

The Belt & Road initiative is a China-led development strategy that focuses on connectivity and cooperation, mainly between China and Eurasia, based on infrastructure, trade and investment.

The concept is inspired by the network of trade routes established in the Han dynasty (206 BC-220 AD), known as the Silk Road. This began in Chang'an (now Xian) in eastern China, and ended in the Mediterranean, connecting China with Europe.

After the officialization of this initiative, the III Meeting of the Chile-China Economic Coordination and Cooperation Dialogue Mechanism was held, an initiative whose objective is to review collaboration in priority areas such as energy, infrastructure, mining and innovation.