There’s gold in them there hills

The comments by the crews of two sailboats anchored in Valparaiso during the winter of 1848 were enough to provoke more than 1,500 Chileans to move to San Francisco within three years' time. The men commented on the frenzy that overtook the population of California due to the gold strikes made in the Sierra Madre. Chileans set off north in search of wealth and a better future.

State of California archives indicate that Little Chile, or Chilecito, California, was founded in between Calaveras and Tuolumne, California. These pioneers caused quite a stir among local residents. Californians watched the Chileans somewhat nervously as they arrived with their wives, children and even some animals that did not respect the fragile wooden fences used to stake out claims.

With the passage of time, several legends associated with the Chilean immigrants arose. The bandit Joaquin Murieta was scripted as Zorro’s sidekick by the writers of one version of the film El Zorro adventure that included Spanish actor Antonio Banderas in the cast. The Chilean character is murdered by an evil U.S. cavalry captain, who rides the plains armed with an especially powerful revolver. Today, in some exclusive hotels in Malibu and San Clemente, you can purchase a prestigious wine by the name of "Murieta". The label has a Chilean-type spur in recognition of such the mysterious Chilean.

For her part, author Isabel Allende, recently published a book that deals with the history of a girl - Eliza - who becomes pregnant and decides to bet on love and travel to California in search of her lover who has left to find gold.

The 21st century gold rush

The fervor with which we Chileans currently view China is reminiscent of the gold fever that energized thousands of people from Europe, Asia and Latin America to travel to Alaska, California and Nevada during the mid-nineteenth century. And China deserves to be evaluated. Although it is a giant that naturally arouses curiosity and is a central part of any equation for commercial success in this decade. It is multicultural, multiracial and full of complexities that are typical of a culture which has been formed by the rigor of its climate, geography, not to mention its acute political and social transformations.

It is clear that, via its participation in APEC, successive Concertación (ruling coalition) governments have sought to strengthen our relations with the Asia Pacific, as well as China, on the basis of a relationship that has opened doors to a variety of areas. Chile has had more success than other Latin American nations, which have found bilateral ties with China to be much more elusive.

Proof of this was the 2004 decision of the Hu Jintao administration to initiate a negotiation process that resulted in the first bilateral treaty with China signed by an individual country. This process continues today through the negotiation of the chapters relating to services and investment, not to mention the other agreements on cooperation in environment and labor. An agreement to start cooperation on SMEs is expected soon. All this has been completed - in Latin America - in Chile.

This current preferred-nation policy framework has resulted in China becoming Chile’s chief trading partner, as well as moving us towards the establishment of systems of interaction at the parliamentary and regional level through the establishment of sister cities and sister regions. More than a dozen cities or regions of our country today have mechanisms of cooperation with counterparts in China.

However, although the public and private bilateral framework is at a uniquely high point, we need to organize just exactly what our priorities in China should be: how to manage bilateral ties; how should we recruit and organize professionals in the field of Chinese-Chilean relations, providing for their lifelong learning and families who must accompany them on such missions; how to finance the programs and for how long; and, most importantly, we must define, via a multi-sector plan, the aims of this tremendous effort to put out bilateral relationship into overdrive, in order that this Chilecito does not end up being a footnote in history books. We need a strategy aimed at sustainability and a solid future within a global market that is increasingly interdependent and that, to some extent, does not give second chances.

This is especially important in light of the fact that dozens of countries, regions and peoples are turning their energies and abilities to generate long-term relations with China in the areas of work and trade. All these areas of opportunity are potentially similar to those may be offered to a country like Chile.

Hence, instead of dealing in areas that have already been integrated into the globalization process in a dynamic manner, where their young people are aim at becoming more like their peers in Korea or even in the United States, we must consider develop a working agenda to present to our country in terms of the following: its products; its connectivity with the rest of Latin America and the powerful network of agreements we have signed with 50 countries; our young people: SMEs led by women; cultural exchanges; our capacity to innovate in those cities that have a particular hunger for making qualitative and quantitative leaps.

They are also in the Chinese west, not unlike the California and Nevada of the Europeans and carpetbaggers from New York. It is a new flexible and responsive zone able to cope with change, especially if it positively affects their image as an area which is linking to the rest of world by leaps and bounds. These are cities such as Chongqing, Chengdu, Urumqi - the latter connected geographically to markets of Central Asia and Russia - and Nanning, which is the gateway to the ASEAN countries from China.

Hundreds of Chileans are arriving to China each year in search of business opportunities. Many are traders who wish to introduce, either directly or indirectly, products such as wine, salmon, olive oil or fresh fruit in any way possible. Although this spirit of entrepreneurship is not misguided, it is clear that, in order to achieve some success in the medium-term, it is necessary to perform a market study, together with a careful analysis of competition, Chinese customs and language, their local logistics systems and specialized legal assistance. The bottom line is we must invest time and resources, no more shooting from the hip at anything that moves. This only feeds frustration and creates expectations that do not generate wealth, instead transforming their business dreams into lost opportunities.

2008 is a very special year for China, given its penchant for the number eight. On Aug 8 the Nest Olympic stadium opens, marking the first global event that seeks to position China as the actor of the 21st century. During 2008, our President will visit Beijing, in the first visit by a Chilean head of state since 2003. She will probably travel with a large delegation of public and private sector individuals, who will obviously pursue their agendas apart from the usual formalities typical of such occasions. They will represent the companies that make up the Chile - China Binational Business Commission (Consejo Binacional de Negocios Chile – China), as well as outline the next steps to take in terms of bilateral trade, education, and definitely migration.

If we view 2008 as a benchmark, it is natural to begin to define, with determination and teamwork, the issues that drive us to go far beyond what currently sustains the friendship and cooperation between the two Pacific countries - China and Chile - transforming this privileged relationship into a well-defined, consensual, informed objectives and targets that will be evaluated on a regular basis.