By Chen Yiming, People’s Daily
Under the cloudless skies of Chile’s Maule Region, rows of grapevines and fruit trees stretch across the valley floor. About 20 minutes from the Talca-Chillán section of Chile’s highway Route 5 lies the Rodriguez family orchard in the Chilean Central Valley — a quintessential Chilean family farm.
“Welcome!” greeted Pablo Rodriguez, the farm’s general manager, clad in jeans and a straw hat.
“Our land once produced corn and tomatoes,” he explained. “In 2012, we shifted to higher-value crops like cherries, grapes, and watermelons. In 2014, we began exporting cherries to China. Today, all the cherries we grow go to China. So does much of our wine.”
During the harvest season, the orchard buzzes with activity, employing up to 500 seasonal workers. “It feels like a festival,” Rodriguez said with pride.
Yet behind the celebration lies a meticulously timed operation. “We move cherries from tree to cold storage within three hours to keep them fresh for Chinese consumers,” he noted. The cherries must arrive at the port precisely at the final moment before the vessel departs. Ensuring such timely delivery requires a fast, highly efficient logistics system.
For producers like Rodriguez, the transformation of Route 5 has been a game changer. “Since Chinese companies upgraded the highway, our cherries reach China faster and safer. Everyone here says our Chinese friends built us a sweet road to prosperity.”
Route 5 is the main artery connecting Chile’s northern and southern regions. The section, a 195-kilometer stretch of the route, traverses Maule, the country’s primary cherry-producing region, earning it the nickname “Cherry Highway.” As part of the Pan-American highway, it is one of Chile’s busiest corridors.
Route 5 is invested, constructed and operated by China Railway Construction Corporation (International) Limited (CRCCI), which acquired the concession in 2021. Since then, the company has implemented a comprehensive upgrades and smart management system, including the widening of 30 kilometers of road, construction of 54 kilometers of bypass, and installation of 13 electronic toll collection systems.
In 2022, the project introduced radio frequency identification technology for automated toll deductions in Chile. The following year, the Chillán-Collipulli section — the southern extension of the Talca-Chillán section — was launched, encompassing the renovation of 166 kilometers of existing roadway and the construction of 6.6 kilometers of new branch lines, for a total of 172.6 kilometers.
Once completed, the project will alleviate congestion in southern urban centers, strengthen north-south transportation links, and stimulate growth across regional industries.
Ivan Marambio, president of the Chilean Fruit Exporters Association, noted that the Talca-Chillán section links farmers, logistics providers, ports, and global markets, calling it a vital artery for Chilean produce to reach Asia. The upgrades have significantly shortened delivery time, boosted export profits for farmers, and generated employment across the region, he added.
Juan Alvarez, a truck driver shuttling between Talca and Collipulli, said, “Thanks to CRCCI’s automated toll system, the traffic has eased. Now, a round trip takes just over two hours. I can make two round trips a day, and my income has grown accordingly.”
Besides, improved infrastructure has catalyzed growth in delivery services, e-commerce, and regional supply chains — further lifting local livelihoods.
Fernando Reyes Matta, director of the Center for Latin American Studies on China at Chile’s Andres Bello University, highlighted that Chile, the first Latin American country to sign a free trade agreement with China, has seen a dramatic rise in agricultural exports to China in recent years. Chilean cherries, she said, have become a “winter staple” on Chinese tables.
Behind this burgeoning trade lies a deeper story of infrastructure-led development. Projects like Route 5 reflect China’s growing engagement with Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) countries, where roads, bridges, schools, ports, and power plants are not only improving trade flows but also fueling broader economic progress.
Like the sun-drenched orchards at the foot of the Andes, the fruits of China-LAC cooperation continue to ripen — a promising harvest of shared prosperity for years to come.
A truck passes a toll gate in Talca along the Talca-Chillán section of Chile’s highway Route 5. (Photo by Luiz Branco)
