06:43 | Singapore, Nov. 13 (ANDINA).
Peruvian President Alan Garcia and his Chinese counterpart Hu Jintao met in Singapore on Friday to discuss the further development of bilateral pragmatic cooperation.
The 35-minute meeting, held on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Economic Leaders' Meeting slated for Saturday and Sunday in Singapore, took place at 15:55 local time (02:55 Peru time) at the St Regis Hotel.
The Peruvian Head of State was accompanied by Foreign Minister Jose Antonio Garcia Belaunde, Trade Minister Martin Perez and Peruvian Ambassador to Singapore, Arturo Montoya.
The Chinese leader attended the meeting along with a delegation composed of several government officials.
During the meeting, Hu said, in 2008, the heads of state of China and Peru paid visits to each other's country and reached consensus on deepening cooperation in all areas.
In the past year, Sino-Peruvian relations have witnessed rapid development in an all-round way, including increasing strategic mutual trust and frequent exchanges of high-level visit, he added as quoted by Xinhua.
Hu said the two countries have also deepened pragmatic cooperation, increased investment and signed a bilateral free trade agreement.
A Chinese Navy fleet will also pay a good-will visit to Peru next month, he added.
Last November, China and Peru concluded their talks on a free trade agreement (FTA) and upgraded bilateral ties to a strategic partnership during President Hu's visit to Peru.
This was one of the first activities of President Garcia in Singapore, where he arrived at 14:30 local time (01:30 Peru time) to attend the 17th APEC Leaders’ Meeting.
Peru and China signed an FTA in April this year in order to deepen their economic and trade relations.
Peru is one of China's major trading partners in Latin America. In 2008, bilateral trade increased by 24 percent year-on-year and totaled 7.5 billion U.S. dollars.
After the meeting with Hu Jintao, the Peruvian president held talks with Prime Minister of Thailand, Abhisit Vejajiva.
(END) NDP/DBG/EEP
Published: 11/13/2009