President Xi and Peruvian President Elevate Comprehensive Strategic Partnership
Beijing, The Gulf Observer: Chinese President Xi Jinping reaffirmed China’s commitment to advancing the comprehensive strategic partnership with Peru to new heights during talks with Peruvian President Dina Ercilia Boluarte Zegarra, who is on a state visit to China until Saturday.
President Xi highlighted Peru’s significance as one of the first Latin American nations to establish diplomatic ties and a comprehensive strategic partnership with China, and the pioneering Latin American country to ink free trade agreements with China. The discussions, held in Beijing, underscored the fruitful outcomes of bilateral cooperation across various sectors, with Chinese enterprises playing a pivotal role in Peru’s economic advancement and societal improvement through major collaborative projects.
Emphasizing China’s dedication to bolstering relations with Peru, President Xi articulated mutual goals to enhance political trust, deepen practical cooperation, foster cultural exchanges, and strengthen multilateral coordination. He underscored the importance of leveraging the strategic dialogue mechanism on economic cooperation and aligning China’s high-quality Belt and Road initiative with Peru’s developmental priorities.
President Xi urged both nations to expand collaboration in sectors such as minerals, energy, manufacturing, agriculture, new energy, digital economy, artificial intelligence, and digital healthcare. He welcomed increased access for high-quality Peruvian goods into the Chinese market and encouraged a conducive legal and policy environment in Peru to attract sustained Chinese investment.
Highlighting the strategic significance of the Chancay Port project, a major Belt and Road initiative linking China and Latin America, President Xi emphasized its role in creating a new land and sea corridor that promotes mutual prosperity and development.
President Xi acknowledged China and Peru’s roles as major emerging markets in the Pacific Rim and vital members of the Global South, advocating strengthened solidarity and cooperation to uphold shared human values and advocate for an equitable, orderly, and multipolar world order, as well as inclusive economic globalization.
President Xi voiced China’s support for Peru’s hosting of the 2024 APEC Leaders’ Informal Meeting, affirming its importance in advancing Asia-Pacific cooperation and global economic growth.
President Boluarte, in her first state visit to China since assuming office in December 2022, praised the substantial progress in bilateral exchanges and cooperation across political, economic, trade, and cultural domains in recent years. She highlighted the transformative impact of Chinese investments in Peru, generating employment opportunities and introducing advanced technologies.
Expressing admiration for China’s achievements, President Boluarte expressed Peru’s eagerness to deepen cooperation to facilitate its own development goals. She welcomed increased Chinese investment in infrastructure, green development, clean energy, and other critical sectors, pledging to provide an enabling environment for Chinese businesses.
President Boluarte reaffirmed Peru’s steadfast adherence to the one-China policy since establishing diplomatic relations in 1971, pledging continued support for China’s global initiatives and commitment to strengthening collaboration within multilateral frameworks.
Following the talks, both leaders witnessed the signing of a strategic action plan for 2024-2029 and several bilateral cooperation agreements covering economy, trade, digital economy, and scientific and technological innovation. The negotiations on upgrading their free trade agreement were also successfully concluded.
China remains Peru’s largest trading partner, while Peru ranks as China’s second-largest investment destination in Latin America. The bilateral free trade agreement, implemented in 2010, and a Belt and Road cooperation memorandum signed in 2019 underscore the deepening economic ties between the two nations.
