The burgeoning demand for copper to feed China's breakneck industrialization has been a godsend for Chile. Exports of the metal to China surged by 70 percent last year, to $3.2 billion, helping China vault past the U.S. to become Chile's biggest copper market and its third-largest trading partner overall. The export bonanza is fueling a wider boom: Chile's economy expanded by 5.9 percent in 2004 - the fastest pace since 1997 - and is likely to grow by more than 6 percent this year.Underscoring this dynamic new relationship, China's President Hu Jintao and his Chilean counterpart, President Ricardo Lagos, agreed to launch negotiations on establishing a free-trade area between the two countries during a visit by Hu to Santiago in November. "China is an opportunity for us," says Foreign Minister Igna-cio Walker. "We have had a political and commercial relationship with China for more than 30 years. China is among our priorities for reaching a free-trade agreement, because it is a principal partner in Asia and an emerging power in economic terms."
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