SANTIAGO, Sept. 21 -- China's achievements in various fields in the past 70 years are impressive and highly commendable, Secretary-General of Communist Party of Chile Lautaro Carmona said.

Carmona told Xinhua in a recent interview that he has visited China three times in recent years, and was impressed by the changes in the Chinese society. "I saw them with my own eyes," he said.

Carmona said that the Asian country is building a socialist system with Chinese characteristics, designed and developed according to its actual conditions and situations.

No other country in the world has been able to achieve such tremendous social progress as China in a relatively short period of time, said Carmona, hailing China's poverty reduction efforts as well as its attention to ecological protection in the process.

He said he saw in China a society functioning efficiently and safely, with people enjoying advanced transportation and power facilities.

Moreover, technology development has brought convenience to municipal management as well as people's daily life, he added.

Indeed, China still faces challenges of unbalanced and insufficient development, especially in rural areas, he said, but the government is making efforts to crack the problems.

Speaking highly of the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), Carmona said the initiative facilitates exchanges between countries in terms of politics, economy, trade and culture on the basis of equality and mutual respect.

Lauding the initiative as a people-centered one, Carmona said that since Latin American has experienced overexploitation of mineral, marine and forest resources, it would be very meaningful to promote exchanges on environmental protection between Latin America and China.