Fruits of his labor

By Michael Peters (China Daily)
Updated: 2012-10-11

Ambassador Luis Schmidt Montes tests some of the exercise equipment at the demonstration farm's adjacent resort hotel in Tianjin, northern China. The farm is a joint Sino-Chilean operation. Photos by Feng Yongbin / China Daily

Chile's ambassador to China has a lot to celebrate this year, he tells Mike Peters.

Working the crowd at his embassy's National Day party, Ambassador Luis Schmidt Montes is inperpetual motion: shaking a fellow diplomat's hand, greeting a Chinese vice-minister, slapping the backs of the folk dancers he's flown in for the occasion. There are several hundred people milling around the embassy garden, enjoying the food, the music and good Chilean wine. Schmidt's smile isas wide as the bright blue sky above us.

It's been a good year for Chile in China: Schmidt was in Santiago back in June as his country welcomed Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao for an official visit. And this month he will join Chinese Agriculture Minister Han Changfu to host a large group of Latin American diplomats and farm officials at a demonstration farm near Tianjin that is a joint project of both countries.

"My grandfather was a farmer," Schmidt tells China Daily in an exclusive interview earlier, "and I usedto spend a big part of my holidays in his farm."

After working as a civil engineer for several years, Schmidt bought a farm back home which he stilloperates, where he grows pears, kiwis, avocados and a variety of citrus fruits.

"I also worked as a civil engineer in the wine industry of my country," he says. "All of this gave me anagribusiness approach and a great passion for everything related to the agriculture industry." Beforecoming to China, he served for years as president and vice-president of Chile's biggest trade groupsfor commercial growers, and he was a key player in negotiating free-trade agreements, including apact with China in 2006.

Though not a career diplomat, he was President Sebastian Pinera's choice to represent his country in China. That might seem odd since the vast majority of the two countries' trade is in mining. Butagri business is a key sector of the Chilean economy - and it would like to increase exports. "We havea lot of good, productive farmland in Chile and not so many people to feed," Schmidt says. "China hasthe opposite situation, so expanding trade in this area is a real win-win."

Moreover, Schmidt is no stranger to mining, thanks to his university training as a civil engineer and anearly career in metals.

"I worked for an iron smelting and metal production plant," he says. "Starting out in a very importantsector for my country."

He adds that his "passion for the countryside explains why when I was offered work by one of the biggest export vineyards in Chile, I changed jobs to be part of the most internationally known sector of the Chilean agribusiness."

With 13 wine-producing regions, Chile is a famous child of Bacchus and a strong exporter of cabernetsauvignon, merlot, syrah, malbec, pinot noir, cabernet franc as well as Chile's own signature grape,the carmenere. The Wines of Chile website describes carmenere as "rich in berry fruits and spice(think blackberries and black pepper), with smooth, well-rounded tannins, making this a very pleasingand easy to drink varietal". It goes well with red meats and corn-based dishes.

"Chile already plays an important role with its exports of wine to China (more than $100 million in 2011)," Schmidt says, "but it is still a small portion compared to our wine exports to the United Statesand Europe. So we will continue promoting our wine quality, to attain our goal of a fivefold increase inour exports in the next three years."

Ambassador Luis Schmidt Montes and Alamiro Morales Mil (in costume) showing guests around the demonstration farm in Tianjin. Photos by Feng Yongbin / China Daily

The enormous wine room at Chile's pavilion at Shanghai's Expo 2010 was a popular stop, and Schmidt still smiles at the thought of all those people who walked out toting red-white-and-blue paperbags of wine. But "the Chinese visitors not only tasted Chilean wine", he says, "but also fresh fruits, salmon and dairy products and meat. They came to know Chilean culture, handicrafts, tourism and Chilean lifestyle, too".

The Expo was such a success, in fact, that Schmidt didn't want the good feeling to end. So he made awinning pitch for the pavilion structure and had it moved to the site of the demonstration farm in Tianjin- at Andes Resort International - where his diplomatic guests later this month will once again enjoy the best his country has to offer inside the massive wooden structure.

He also can't wait to show them the site's five-star hotel, expansive tropical greenhouse andrestaurants that feature a South American-style grill room and fine Chinese cuisine.

Schmidt has been ambassador since October 2010, and hopes to be in China through 2014. He likesto explore the capital by bicycle on weekends - he switches to a motorbike in the winter - and he looksforward to seeing more of China in the months ahead. His favorite travels so far include the old city ofXi'an and its terracotta soldiers, Yunnan and its ethnic minorities, and Lishui, in the southwest ofZhejiang province, "for its scenery, ceramic handicrafts and swords".

At a glance

Thanks to a free-trade agreement negotiated in 2006, Chilean fruit sales are expanding rapidly inChina, says Nicolas Serrano Rolin, director of the Trade Commission Office of Chile in Guangzhou,Guangdong province.

The largest fresh fruit exporter in the Southern Hemisphere, Chile ranks behind only Thailand in fruitexports to China and No 1 in grapes, cherries, plums and apples, Rolin says. Total fruit sales surged80 percent year-on-year to $441 million last year.

Contact the writer at michaelpeters@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 10/07/2012 page5)