Legislators in Chile's lower house of Congress on Wednesday approved a free trade agreement with China in a 94-1 vote, with three abstentions, official sources said.

The agreement, China's first with a Latin American nation, now passes to the Senate for final ratification.

Under the agreement, 92 percent of Chilean products will enter China without any import tariffs. Another 7 percent will become duty-free over the next decade.

Of China's exports, 50 percent will have immediate tariff-free access to Chile, and the figure will rise to 97 percent in 10 years' time. But such exports as textiles, metal products, wheat, wheat flour and sugar are excluded from the benefit.

The agreement is a decisive step in Chile's positioning in the Asia-Pacific region that will see the strongest economic growth in coming decades, Chile's foreign ministry said in a statement on Wednesday.

Source: Xinhua