SANTIAGO, Feb. 16 (Xinhuanet) -- Wholesalers from a southern Chinese boom town Thursday opened in Chile their first major Chinese shopping mall in Latin America.

    The Chinese Commercial Center, located in Chile's capital Santiago, is also the 14th shopping mall opened overseas by businessmen from Wenzhou, China's eastern Zhejiang province.

    The shopping center, which costs 500,000 U.S. dollars, is a joint project with the local government, a city official told Xinhua on Thursday.

    It houses 54 shops selling clothes, shoes and handicrafts from Wenzhou. All the shops are owned by businessmen from Wenzhou, whose economy has enjoyed vigorous development in the last two decades thanks to China's economic reforms.

    "It is a privilege for the City of Santiago that the Chinese business people have chosen this spot to begin their trade in our domestic market. It is something that will stimulate development in this area," said Hector Feely, deputy mayor of Santiago.

    Liu Zhouxi, an official from Wenzhou, thanked the Santiago government on behalf of his city authorities for the opening of the mall, saying that Wenzhou would guarantee product quality and low prices to Chilean customers with its 54 factories doing businesses with 150 overseas countries.

    The shopping center is China's first initiative in Chile's domestic market since the two countries signed a free trade agreement in November 2005, which opened up huge economic opportunities for both sides.

    China is now Chile's second largest trade partner. Enditem