Cars, computers enhance good image of Chinese goods in Chile

SANTIAGO, Dec. 10 (Xinhua) -- The arrival of new cars from China in 2007 has brightened the image of Chinese goods in Chile and demonstrated its quality and technology.

The diversification of goods on offer and the arrival of products of greater value, durability and quality are the direct result of the Chile-China free trade agreement, said the Chilean authorities.

China and Chile signed the agreement in 2006, and during the first half of 2007 bilateral trade grew 98 percent compared with the same period of last year.

"It is the first time that a free trade agreement with Chile has created such a fast growth in trade," said Alicia Frohman, director of ProChile, a trade development office with the country's foreign ministry.

China is now Chile's second largest trade partner, while Chile is the third largest South American trade partner for China.

Three models -- the Deer, Safe and Hover -- from the Great Wall auto brand are spearheading China's new products campaign.

"So far we have sold more than 1,000 cars and the market is growing fast, something that has come beyond our expectation and points to a future boom for this business," Ricardo Berasian, head of communications for Derco, a major importer in Chile, told Xinhua.

Chinese vehicles have come to boost the idea among the middle class, their major buyers, that the Chinese products are of high quality, said Berasian. "Our nation has effective quality control on imported vehicles," he added.

Derco expected sales of Chinese cars to rise with the planned launch of a new model, the Wingle.

With the Chile-China free trade agreement, Chile could serve as a corridor for China-made technological products to reach the rest of South America.

"This agreement will boost certain businesses and we will have the access to new companies without big change in prices," said Alejandro Manriquez, general manager of Quintec Computing Solutions.

"Even so, we are opening a time window to get in touch with Chinese technology companies. We will be able to do so before the other nations in the region," he said.

Some "90 percent of the technology products sold in Chile are made in China, which does not mean they are bad; (and the situation is) quite the reverse," said Juan Carlos Gutierrez, general manager of the Chile branch of Lenovo, the Chinese company which bought IBM's computer manufacturing division about a year ago.

The free trade agreement is a window for the Chilean people to get to know better with the Chinese goods and reinforce the good image of made-in-China, he said.