Chilean president meets Chinese senior lawmaker

SANTIAGO, Mar 19 (Xinhua) -- Chilean President Sebastian Pinera on Monday met with senior Chinese lawmaker Wang Zhaoguo to discuss ways to deepen bilateral cooperation. During the meeting, Pinera extended a warm welcome to Wang Zhaoguo, who is leading a delegation of the National People's Congress delegation (NPC), China's top legislature, to Chile for a three-day official visit starting from last Saturday.

He believed that the visit would deepen the existing profound friendship between the two countries.

Pinera said the Chilean government regards its relations with China with a strategic perspective and attaches great importance to developing bilateral ties that have been forged for 42 years.

The Chilean president highlighted the success achieved by the two countries in bilateral economic and trade cooperation ever since the signing of the free trade agreement in 2005, adding that Chile is willing to work with China to expand the cooperation in science and technology, new energy and agriculture, to benefit the peoples of both sides with news opportunities.

For his part, Wang, vice chairman of the NPC standing committee, congratulated Pinera on the important achievements made by the Chilean government and its people under his leadership.

Wang said relations between Chile and China have witnessed rapid development since the establishment of diplomatic ties, especially since the forging of the China-Chile comprehensive cooperative partnership in 2004, and China has always attached importance to developing relations with Chile from a strategic perspective.

Wang appreciates Chile's adherence to the one-China policy, adding that China is ready to work with Chile to promote pragmatic cooperation in various fields based on the important consensus reached by President Hu Jintao and Pinera in 2010.

China and Chile are both important developing countries, he said. As the international situation is undergoing profound and complex changes, consolidating and developing the friendly ties is not only in line with the fundamental interests of the two countries and peoples, but also conducive to common development while safeguarding the common interests of the vast number of developing countries.

Chile is the first leg of Wang's visit which will also take him to Brazil and Trinidad and Tobago, at the invitations of the National Congress of Chile, the National Congress of Brazil and the Parliament of Trinidad and Tobago.