In order to make it easier for Chinese companies to invest in Chile, the Foreign Investment Promotion Agency, InvestChile, has launched a new edition of its ‘How to Invest in Chile’ Investor’s Guide in Mandarin. Published online, the step-by-step guide is designed to serve as a “roadmap” for companies considering Chile as a potential destination for investment.
“At InvestChile, we believe that cultural differences, mainly in terms of language, can be narrowed in these times of greater connectivity and globalized business. In this context, our new ‘How to Invest in Chile’ investor’s guide fills a clear gap with regard to potential Chinese investors: the lack of official material in their own language,” said InvestChile director Karla Flores.
“In the new guide, you can find all the basic step-by-step information for setting up your company, from the tax structure to environmental permits and labor laws. In this way, as an agency, we are helping to bridge the gap between the two countries’ business cultures in the context of Chinese companies’ growing interest in our country,” she added.
With 14 chapters that include legal and commercial matters, the guide in Mandarin is available at investchile.gob.cl/china.
Main trading partner
Despite being Chile’s principal trading partner, with annual bilateral trade totaling US $57.7 billion, China (including Hong Kong) had total foreign investment stock in Chile in 2020 of just US $1.7 billion, or 17.4% of the foreign investment from Asia, according to the Central Bank of Chile.
Recent operations by Chinese companies in Chile, however, suggest that this trend is changing. In addition, InvestChile is currently working with 28 Chinese projects worth over US $7 billion in areas such as energy, mining and infrastructure.
The director of InvestChile, Karla Flores, indicated that, although China is Chile’s main trading partner, investment has taken a slower course. However, “in the last three or four years, investments have multiplied and arrived very quickly,” she said.
The growing interest of Chinese companies has materialized in recent years with investments by companies like Sinovac Biotech, China Railway Construction Corporation, China Three Gorges, Didi and Vivo, and it has led financial institutions of the stature of Bank of China, Export-Import Bank of China and China Construction Bank to open branches in the South American country.
