China and Chile agreed to start negotiation on upgrading their Free Trade Agreement (FTA).

    The announcement was made during Chinese President Xi Jinping's state visit to the Latin American nation, according to China's (Xinhua) News Agency.

    According to a joint statement issued after Xi's meeting with his Chilean counterpart Michelle Bachelet, the two heads of state spoke highly of the results achieved over the past ten years since their bilateral FTA went into effect.

    The two countries signed their FTA in 2005. Bilateral trade volume has grown fourfold since the FTA went into effect in 2006. China is now Chile's largest trading partner, its largest export destination and the largest buyer of its copper products.

    A research fellow with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences said that China and Chile enjoy huge potential for cooperation in such areas as medicine, health services, bio-technology and tourism, noting that these sectors are not covered by the current FTA.

    Chile wants more investment from China and hopes to have broader access to the vast Chinese market, he added.