This edition of Chile Week included the official opening of the Chilean Exports Promotion Bureau’s office in Chengdu, a strategic hub for western China and key for transportation and logistics.
The 2022 edition of Chile Week China was held in the cities of Beijing, Chengdu, Shanghai, and Guangzhou from November 22 to 29, featuring seminars, workshops, business meetings, cooking shows, campaigns to promote Chilean products in traditional and online sales channels, dinners with officials, and roundtables. The challenges related to water consumption and green hydrogen were also addressed, contributing to Chile’s positioning as a country active in sustainability, as well as the inclusion of women in international trade and e-commerce.
“Today, we want to keep deepening our relationship with China in different areas,” said Ximena Fuentes, Chile’s Undersecretary of Foreign Affairs, during the event’s opening, adding that “we are happy to see that China continues to be our primary trading partner. In 2021, it received 38% of our exports, and so far in 2022 it is still our main partner.”
“In this seventh edition of Chile Week, we will conduct a series of activities to promote pork in the Chinese market, highlighting the attributes of our exportable offer among Chinese purchasing decision-makers and consumers, and to position Chile as an attractive destination for investment and tourism,” added Paulina Valderrama, Acting General Director of ProChile, the Chilean Exports Promotion Bureau.
At the inaugural dinner, Valderrama highlighted the great work carried out in the various editions of Chile Week China by Fruits from Chile, Wines of Chile, Salmon Chile, and ChilePork, whose products were also the stars of the menu: salmon ceviche for a starter, pork loin with corn pie as the main dish, and cherries and blueberries for dessert, each paired with the best wines.
New trade office in Chengdu and ChilePork
This Chile Week marked the official opening of ProChile’s office in Chengdu, a strategic hub for western China and key for transportation and logistics. It is also a potential market for agricultural products, meat, seafood, and wines, the main products of Chile’s exportable offer to the Asian giant.
ChilePork took part in a seminar on agrifood and investment opportunities in Chile, in which the Chilean pork, fruit, wine, and mussels sectors explained what their industries are doing in food safety, guaranteeing the availability of healthy, safe and nutritious foods.
“Being an industry that exports white meat, especially pork, we wanted to be part of Chile’s official activities to mark this opening in Chengdu, to consolidate our relationship with importers, distributors, and many strategic partners. We trust that this relevant milestone will help strengthen the links between China and Chile even further, and that it will provide more visibility to our meat, which stands out for its safety, traceability, and high quality,” said Juan Carlos Domínguez, President of ChileCarne, the Chilean Meat Exporters’ Association, which manages the ChilePork brand that promotes Chilean pork worldwide.
It should be noted that although ProChile opened its doors in Chengdu in 2021, the office was inaugurated on November 25. During its first year, the office has been working on key milestones to boost Chile’s presence in various Chinese cities and has been mainly committed to product promotion, strengthening trade cooperation with the Sichuan province and the vast inland regions of China.
