Twenty-five Chilean food, wine, energy, technology, tourism, garment, and logistics enterprises are in Hengqin New Area today (Aug 28) looking for partners in the country that accounts for nearly one-third of Chile's total foreign trade.

Bilateral trade between China and Chile reached $42.8 billion in 2018. Seeking to increase that in Zhuhai are, for instance, IMAS EBCO, the largest architecture and storage enterprise in Chile, and Olmos, one of the five largest Chilean fruit nurseries. They expect to be matched with Macao and Chinese mainland enterprises.

Keynote speeches, project signings, one-to-one business talks and product exhibitions are all part of a three-day tour that begins in the China-LAC Economic & Trade Cooperation Park. 

Theme exhibition

First, though, are the speeches: Miguel Poklepovic, former general consul of the Consulate General of Chile in Guangzhou, will share his views on Sino-Chile relations since diplomatic relations were established on Dec 15, 1970. Jiang Shixue, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, will discuss bilateral cooperation under the Belt & Road Initiative. Wu Yuanfeng, president of the Chile Pavilion in the Shanghai Free Trade Zone, is to address China-Chile Friendship Year. And, Yuan Lie, president of Sino-LAC Holding Group, will talk about Sino-Latin & Caribbean economic and trade cooperation platforms in Hengqin. Sino-LAC will unveil a joint office space at the opening ceremony. 

In addition to roadshows, each Chilean enterprise will take part in one-to-one talks with at least three Chinese companies in search of potential partners for cooperation.

Also arranged are small-large commodity fairs at the 1,000-sq-m (1,196-sq-yd) exhibition center in Building 9 where enterprises will showcase products and services. 

One-to-one talks [Photo provided by Zhuhai Da Heng Qin Investment Co]

At the same time, China Mobile, in collaboration with Hengqin China-LAC Economic & Trade Cooperation Park, will announce a laboratory providing one-stop 5G application incubation services for in-house enterprises.

China Mobile's 5G+AICDE plan will also be implemented to deepen the integration of 5G with artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things, cloud computing, big data, and edge computing.

Furthermore, announcements will be made that an international Internet submarine cable landing station will be built. And, big data, blockchain, cross-border e-commerce, and free trade industries under the Belt & Road Initiative in Guangdong, Hong Kong, and Macao will be also developed.

Themed "A Trans-Pacific Path of Cooperation", the event is sponsored by the Hengqin New Area Administrative Committee, Macao Trade & Investment Promotion Institute, and China Council for the Promotion of International Trade Zhuhai Sub-council. The Hengqin New Area Bureau of Commerce, Macao Affairs Bureau of the Hengqin Administrative Committee, and Zhuhai Da Heng Qin Innovation & Development Co are handling the tour locally.