Heine’s Perspective on the Significance of Chile-China Ties
On May 14, 2025, Pardee Professor Jorge Heine, former ambassador of Chile to China appeared on Radio Análisis — a radio show by the University of Chile. He extensively discussed Chilean President Gabriel Boric’s recent visit to China for the fourth ministerial meeting of the China-CELAC Forum. The interview highlighted China’s role in Chile’s economic prosperity as well as Heine’s new book, The Non-Aligned World: Striking Out in an Era of Great Power Competition (Polity Press) that explains the relevance of active non-alignment (ANA) for the Global South’s developing nations navigating the U.S.-China rivalry.
With three prominent South American state heads in attendance at the China-CELAC Forum — President Lula da Silva of Brazil, President Boric of Chile, and President Petro of Colombia — the Latin American leadership demonstrated its refusal to pick sides in the ongoing trade war between the U.S. and China. Instead, the region is highly enthusiastic about maintaining amiable and stable trade relations with both superpowers.
With regards to Boric’s presence at the forum, Heine remarked that it demonstrates the Chilean president’s commitment to free trade and multilateralism. He also specified that 60% of Chile’s goods are exported to Asia and 40% of that trade happens with China. These substantial figures automatically imply that China is Chile’s number one trade partner for now.
The professor also reminded viewers that in the early seventies, Chile was the first country in Latin America to establish diplomatic relations with China, even before President Nixon’s visit to the East Asian country in 1972. By nurturing these overseas ties, Chile was able to land the first free trade agreement with China. Since that 2005 treaty, the Chile-China trade has increased eighthold and is approaching $60 billion. Heine attributed this rapid progress to a stable and strategic state policy toward China sustained by the Chilean presidents through the last two decades.
To watch Prof. Heine’s full take on the Chile-China relationship, click here.
Jorge Heine is a research professor at the Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies as well as the interim director at the Pardee Center for the Study of the Longer-Range Future. Besides China, he was the former ambassador of Chile to India and South Africa and also served as cabinet minister in the Chilean government. Heine has written 18 books, including The Non-Aligned World: Striking Out in an Era of Great Power Competition (2025) and Latin American Foreign Policies in the New World Order: The Active Non-Alignment Option (2022) that meticulously explore the concept of active non-alignment, providing insights on how the Global South leadership navigate the changing international diplomacy landscape amid the U.S.-China rivalry.