BEIJING: Chinese President Xi Jinping said on Friday that China stands ready to work with Peru to advance the comprehensive strategic partnership to new heights, voicing active support for the success of this year’s Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Economic Leaders’ Meeting to be hosted by Peru.
Xi made the remarks while holding talks in Beijing with Peruvian President Dina Ercilia Boluarte Zegarra, who is on a five-day state visit to China that will conclude on Saturday.
Xi said that Peru is one of the first Latin American countries to establish diplomatic ties and a comprehensive strategic partnership with the People’s Republic of China, and is the first Latin American country to sign free trade agreements with China.
Hailing the fruitful outcomes of bilateral cooperation in various fields, Xi said Chinese businesses have played an important role in Peru’s economic development and the improvement of people’s livelihood through major cooperation projects.
China attaches great importance to developing its relations with Peru, and stands ready to work with Peru to consolidate mutual political trust, deepen practical cooperation, promote mutual learning between civilizations, and enhance multilateral coordination, thereby advancing the comprehensive strategic partnership with Peru to new heights, said Xi.
He urged both sides to give full play to the role of the strategic dialogue mechanism on economic cooperation between the two governments, and the alignment of China’s efforts for high-quality Belt and Road cooperation with Peru’s development needs.
The two countries should advance cooperation in minerals, energy, manufacturing and agriculture, and expand cooperation in new energy, digital economy, artificial intelligence, digital healthcare, and other emerging areas, said Xi.
China welcomes more quality Peruvian products to enter the Chinese market, and hopes that Peru will provide a favorable environment in terms of law and policy so that Chinese businesses can invest in Peru in the long run, he said.
Xi said the two sides should work together to ensure that the Chancay Port, one of the major Belt and Road cooperation projects between China and Peru, will be completed on schedule to make it a new land and sea corridor between China and Latin America.
The route from Chancay to Shanghai will become a real road of prosperity that promotes the common development of China and Peru, he said.
Noting that China and Peru are major emerging markets in the Pacific Rim and important members of the Global South, Xi urged both countries to strengthen solidarity and cooperation, promote the common values of humanity, and advocate an equal, orderly and multi-polar world and an inclusive economic globalization to promote common development of the Global South countries.
China supports Peru in hosting the 2024 APEC Leaders’ Informal Meeting and maintaining the correct direction of Asia-Pacific cooperation to send a positive signal to the outside world of building an open Asia-Pacific economy and promoting world economic growth, he added.
Xi said China attaches great importance to the development of China-Latin America relations and is ready to work with Peru and other Latin America and the Caribbean countries to promote overall cooperation and build a community of China and the Latin American and Caribbean countries with a shared future.
Chinese President Xi Jinping holds talks with Peruvian President Dina Ercilia Boluarte Zegarra in Beijing, China, June 28, 2024.Â
For her part, Boluarte said Peru and China have reaped fruits in exchanges and cooperation in various fields, including politics, economy, trade and culture, in recent years.
“In particular, the investment of Chinese businesses in Peru has not only created a large number of jobs for Peru but also brought advanced technology and expertise,” she said.
In her first state visit to China since she took office in December 2022, Boluarte visited the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen and the eastern Chinese cities of Shanghai and Suzhou before arriving in the capital on Thursday.
Through the visits, Boluarte said her delegation of key cabinet ministers and representatives of Peru’s economic community experienced China’s rapid development and progress in science and technology and explored many areas for future cooperation.
The Peruvian side admires China’s achievements, and hopes to learn from China’s successful experience and further expand practical cooperation between the two countries to help Peru better realize its own development, she said.
Peru welcomes more Chinese businesses to invest in the country and strengthen cooperation in infrastructure, green development, clean energy and other fields, and Peru is ready to provide a favorable business environment for Chinese companies, said the president.
Boluarte said since the two countries established diplomatic relations in 1971, the Peruvian government has always pursued a one-China policy, and the Peruvian side will continue to adhere to the one-China principle.
Peru supports the series of global initiatives proposed by the Chinese president, and is willing to strengthen communication and collaboration with China in multilateral frameworks such as the United Nations and the APEC to jointly safeguard multilateralism and promote an open world economy, she said.
After the talks, the two heads of state witnessed the signing of an action plan between the two governments from 2024 to 2029, and several bilateral cooperation documents on economy, trade, digital economy, and scientific and technological innovation.
The two sides also announced the substantial conclusion of negotiations on the upgrading of their free trade agreement.
China is Peru’s largest trading partner, and Peru is China’s second-largest investment destination in Latin America. The two countries signed in 2009 the free trade agreement, which came into effect in 2010, and a memorandum of understanding on Belt and Road cooperation in 2019.
