Chilean officials on a trade mission to Asia on Tuesday signed an extension of an agreement with the Alibaba Group to make it easier to bring goods from the South American country into China directly through e-commerce.
“We are thrilled to continue this partnership with ProChile in helping introduce Chilean products to our 367 million Chinese shoppers," Brian Wong, vice president of Alibaba Group, said in an email sent to Latin Business Daily. "Chile is known for its great agricultural products, which can translate well into Chinese cuisine."
The agreement is an extension of the Juhuasuan partnership with the Chilean Embassy in Beijing announced in June, Alibaba said in a press release.
Alibaba is allowing Chilean companies access to its platforms and their 367 million annual buyers, Alibaba said. The Juhuasuan platform will personalize marketing activities to connect Chinese consumers with goods and services from Chile.
“Alibaba is a worldwide leader in electronic commerce, and will be a perfect partner for the promotion of Chilean goods and services in the Chinese market,” Luis Felipe Cespedes, the Chilean Minister of Economy, said.
The accord extension had been in the works for several months. Chilean officials said they are confident that Chilean small and medium enterprises now will have an easier time penetrating the Chinese consumer market, Chilean officials stressed that their aim was to help smaller companies gain export markets.
“There is absolutely no doubt in the enormous potential benefits this agreement and the new partnership can bring for Chilean exporters,” Eduardo Frei, former president of Chile, who led the delegation named Pro Chile, said.
Chile is a leading agroindustrial products exporter in Latin America.
The accord was signed by the international economic affairs office of Chile´s ministry of foreign affairs and Juhuasuan, and was the highlight of the visit of the largest Chilean public-private delegation ever to visit China.
The ceremony was in the sidelines of an event denominated Chile Week, organized by the government of Chile in the cities of Shanghai and Beijing from Aug. 21-28 to mark 45 years since diplomatic relationships between Chile and China started.
Alerts Sign-up