The Peruvian Port of Chancay, set to be inaugurated on Thursday under the gaze of Chinese President Xi Jinping, will become the crown jewel of the New Silk Road in South America.
The coastal city of Chancay, located north of Lima, will become the new hub of regional trade this month.
The infrastructure, built by the Chinese state-owned company Cosco Shipping with an investment of US$1.3 million, will attract the largest container ships and reduce sea travel time to the People's Republic of China by 12 days.
"The Asia-Pacific region is the most dynamic in the world, accounting for more than 60% of global GDP, so this will definitely have a very positive impact," Peruvian Exporters Association Chairman (Adex), Julio Perez Alvan told EFE.
He added that the inauguration of the Chancay Port must translate into "something concrete," such as job creation in the northern corridor of Lima, which will extend to Ancon, where a new industrial park is being built.
Export boom driven by rising prices
Perez Alvan highlighted that the People's Republic of China is Peru’s main trading partner, with 353 micro and small businesses exporting a total of 386 products. This creates a "double effect" of job creation and economic formalization.
Adex projects that Peru's total exports will grow by 14 to 15% this year, driven mainly by rising international metal prices, which is a "quite significant" percentage, the executive remarked.
In a report up to last September, the exporters' guild reported that Peru's trade balance closed with a surplus of $13.632 billion, with exports amounting to $53.651 billion and imports totaling $40.019 billion.
The Foreign Trade Society of Peru (Comex) specified that exports of goods to the People's Republic of China totaled $14.260 billion through last July, while imports amounted to $8.238 billion.
Increased investments in mining
Chinese investments in Peru reached $38.8 billion between 2001 and 2023, with the focus on mining (43%), fishing (21%), power generation and distribution (13%), finance (9%), oil and gas (9%), and ports (4%).
This week, Zijin Mining, one of the largest gold and copper producers from the People's Republic of China, announced that it had obtained the necessary permits to operate La Arena gold mine in northern Peru, with an investment of $245 million.
The largest mining investment is centered on Las Bambas, a copper mine in the southern region of Apurímac operated by MMG (controlled by the state-owned China Minmetals Corporation), which contributes 1% to Peru's GDP.
Since 2010, Peru has maintained a free trade agreement with the People's Republic of China, which now seeks to optimize areas such as direct transportation, telecommunications, and railway systems, especially within the framework of the APEC Leaders' Week that began in Lima this Sunday.