Chilean President Michelle Bachelet said her country wants to join the China-initiated Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) at the earliest date possible.

Bachelet made the remarks when meeting with visiting Chinese President Xi Jinping who arrived in Santiago for a state visit.

In a joint statement issued after the meeting, the two countries agreed to lift bilateral ties to a comprehensive strategic partnership and to start talks on an upgrade of their free trade agreement (FTA) as soon as possible.

"An upgrade of the FTA between Chile and China will give economic and trade cooperation between the two countries a strong boost," Bachelet said.

Chile welcomes Chinese enterprises to increase their investments in the Latin American country, she said, adding that her country is willing to join the AIIB as soon as possible.

Chile is the last leg of Xi's three-nation Latin America tour, which has already taken the Chinese president to Ecuador and Peru. He also attended the 24th Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Economic Leaders' Meeting in Lima, capital of Peru.

(Xinhua News Agency November 22, 2016)