Full coverage: Xi Visits Ecuador, Peru and Chile, Attends APEC Summit

Full coverage: China’s Leaders

In Chile, Chinese President Xi Jinping is wrapping up his three-nation tour to Latin America. President Xi arrived in Santiago and started his visit to Chile on Tuesday, where he met with his counterpart Michelle Bachelet and witnessed the signing of a series of deals.

A red carpet rolled out for the visiting President who has come a long way from the other side of the globe. President Xi Jinping was warmly welcomed by his Chilean counterpart at the Constitution Square.

Michelle said, "We have a mature and stable relationship with China, which is growing and getting stronger every day. And this is, in large part, because our country is seen as a trustworthy partner in the Latin American context. President Xi Jinping's visit is aimed at consolidating a new phase with an integral strategic association."

The two presidents held a meeting and oversaw the signing of 12 agreements of cooperation between their countries. This included areas of agriculture, foreign relations, astronomy and culture.

They agreed to start negotiations on upgrading their Free Trade Agreement, and also decided to lift bilateral ties to a comprehensive strategic partnership.

Xi said, "We have exchanged in-depth views on China-Chile relations and issues of common concern and reached an important consensus. In order to promote the long-term development of bilateral relations, we have unanimously decided to promote our relations as a comprehensive strategic partnership, opening a new page of China-Chile relations. We have agreed to strengthen high-level exchanges and consolidate mutual political trust."

Free trade and globalization have been the key topics for President Xi's Latin America tour.  And now Chile has agreed to fight side by side with China against trade protectionism.

"We are convinced that these agreements will have very positive impacts in the near future. As everyone knows, 10 years ago, our countries signed a free trade agreement that has brought important benefits to both parties. China is currently our main trading partner and Chile is China's third largest partner in Latin America," said Michelle.

The Chinese president's visit to Chile is timely and comes as the world looks to Beijing to lead on global free trade.

While US president-elect Donald Trump has promised to pull out of the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal, China has been pushing an alternative vision of free trade in Asia under the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, or RCEP,

RCEP so far does not include countries in the Americas. But in Santiago, President Xi did confirm China's interest in Latin America.

Xi said, "We have exchanged various points of views regarding relations between Chile, Latin America and the Caribbean. China has not changed its position on the development of Latin America and the Caribbean. China firmly supports the efforts of the countries in this region to defend the stability, unity and development of this region."

Last year, Chinese President Xi Jinping pledged 250 billion USD in investment in Latin America over the next ten years. The ongoing visit serves to give a double confirmation of China's commitment to the region, and its efforts in continuing to broaden the spectrum of cooperation.