The year of the water tiger has already begun, and to celebrate it, as is tradition, these days in China families give each other cherries, which usually travel from Chile to delight them on this special date. Because despite being 20,000 kilometers apart, China and Chile seem to be closer and closer: according to a study by Imagen de Chile, those surveyed in the city of Shanghai are among the citizens of the world who most prefer and feel familiar with our country, its culture and its products.
According to the Chile Longitudinal Image Study, 46% of respondents in Shanghai say that Chile is familiar or very familiar to them, well above the average in the 12 cities of the world in which we conducted this survey, where 31% say that Chile is familiar or very familiar to them. In fact, for China, we are the "closest" country in Latin America, along with Brazil (also 46%). According to our survey, in China 44% consider Colombia familiar, 36% Argentina and 32% Peru.
"These results reflect a relationship that has historically been very close between the two countries. Chile was not only the first country in South America to establish diplomatic relations with China, more than 50 years ago, but it was also the first country in Latin America to sign a Free Trade Agreement with them (2005). In addition, today we share interests in sectors as relevant for the future as electromobility, healthy food, and the manufacture of vaccines from Chile for the region," said Constanza Cea, executive director of Imagen de Chile.
Moreover, 55% of respondents in Shanghai have a favorable or very favorable opinion of Chile, above the average of 43% of the 12 cities measured by our survey.
Although 72% of respondents in Shanghai think Chile is underdeveloped, they rate us very positively on a number of key positioning factors: 73% say Chile has an attractive nature; 71% say Chile is economically stable; 68% say Chile exports quality products; and 67% think Chile encourages entrepreneurship.
According to the survey, the best known Chilean products in that Chinese city are: fruit (62%), wine (49%) and fish and seafood (48%), and the perception is absolutely favorable: 80% associate our products with good quality, being the second market that best perceives our products after New Delhi, and well above the 57% average in the 12 cities measured. Other attributes assigned to our products are diversity (38%) and sustainability (38%).
"Chile is a source of healthy food for the world, and in China they are very clear about it. In these days, when the Chinese New Year is celebrated, one of the star products are Chilean cherries . Therefore, it is not surprising that in our survey the most well-known national products there are fruit and wine, and that the most outstanding attribute by far is good quality. Chile is creating a future," he added.
The Asian giant's excellent perception of Chile also places us above the other main South American countries (Argentina, Brazil, Colombia and Peru) in all the factors compared in the survey. Thus, China considers us the leading country in the region in terms of democratic stability, quality of its professionals, good economic performance, tourist attractions and quality of its products.
When it comes to choosing tourist destinations, 67% of those surveyed in Shanghai stated that they would like to visit Chile in the medium or long term, well above the 42% that is the general average. In addition, they associate our country with green or natural tourism (27%), gastronomic (27%), urban (25%), and adventure tourism (17%), although distance plays against us: 49% of those surveyed said that the main barrier to travel as a tourist to Chile is distance.
In terms of culture, China also shows a lot of knowledge about our country. When asked about how much they know and are interested in Chile's cultural and heritage offerings, 43% said they know a lot, well above the average of 18% in all the cities surveyed. Thus, our country is the one that the citizens of the Asian giant say they know the most in this aspect. According to our survey, Chile's 43% is followed by Argentina with 26%, Brazil and Peru, with 25% each, and Colombia, with just 22%.
"The cultural relationship with China has had as protagonists authors such as Pablo Neruda, Roberto Bolaño or Gabriela Mistral: without going any further, a work by Neruda was the first Latin American book translated into Chinese, in 1950. In addition, more recent events show this interest, such as the translation of La Araucana -by Alonso de Ercilla-, which will be available in Chinese this year, an initiative promoted by Ambassador Luis Schmidt", said Constanza Cea.
The Imagen de Chile longitudinal study was conducted in the cities of Sao Paulo, New York, Washington, Toronto, London, Berlin, Paris, Madrid, New Delhi, Dubai, Shanghai and Tokyo.
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