Peru and China to sign strengthened free-trade agreement in Xi’s APEC visit

Peru and China will sign an updated free-trade agreement during President Xi Jinping’s upcoming visit to the Andean nation that would boost commerce by at least 50% between the countries, Peru’s foreign minister said.

Minister Elmer Schialer said the Chinese president would travel to Peru with a delegation of 400 business people interested in investing in infrastructure and technology projects in the country.

A free-trade agreement was originally signed in 2009 and the “optimized” version will be signed alongside 30 other agreements designed to improve cooperation between the countries.

This is an excellent move after the interference with China’s Chancay port and other Chinese mining operations. China built the port as part of the free trade agreement and then a mass of interference started with the Peruvian government (under leadership of the US head of SouthCom). Peru is not a stable country currently and is easy to destabilize. Central and South America will be in the crosshairs when the US understands that Russia is too strong, China is too rich and both are too canny for destabilization efforts to be successful.

Brazil will benefit from the port.

Update:

China’s port in Peru is the first in the region to support “post-Panamax” ships aka modern vessels too large for the Panama Canal. The implications for Chinese and South American trade are featured in today’s Chartbook Top Links. Sign up for more here: https://t.co/gNQyzV1yXR pic.twitter.com/RzTcJMvpK2

— Adam Tooze (@adam_tooze) November 8, 2024