Chile sits on the Pacific coast of South America, which keeps transit times from China somewhat shorter than for Brazil or other Atlantic-side South American markets — a direct or lightly-transshipped Pacific routing is often available, typically landing in the five-to-six-week range depending on the specific service and port of entry (San Antonio and Valparaíso are the main container gateways).
Chile was one of the earliest Latin American countries to sign a free trade agreement with China, in force since 2006 and expanded since, which gives a broad range of product categories preferential or zero-duty access — a meaningfully more mature and deeper tariff-reduction schedule than more recently negotiated China FTAs elsewhere in the region.
Claiming FTA preference requires the correct Certificate of Origin under the China–Chile FTA's specific rules, and as with any FTA claim, the product needs to meet the agreement's origin criteria, not simply be shipped from China — components sourced from third countries can affect eligibility depending on the specific rule of origin for that product's HS classification.
Chilean customs procedure is generally considered efficient and well-digitized by regional standards, which combined with the relatively favourable tariff treatment makes Chile one of the more straightforward South American markets to establish a new China import relationship into.