Xi Jinping arrives in Peru for Apec, poised to sign 30 bilateral agreements for China

A focal point of his visit will be the virtual inauguration of the South American country’s US$3.5 billion port funded by Beijing

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Chinese President Xi Jinping deplanes in Callao, Peru, on Thursday to attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit. Photo: AP

Published: 3:15am, 15 Nov 2024Updated: 10:09am, 15 Nov 2024

Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived in Peru on Thursday morning accompanied by some 400 businesspeople and entrepreneurs to attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit that lasts through Saturday.

A focal point of the visit is Thursday’s virtual inauguration of Peru’s new US$3.5 billion Chancay port funded and operated by China. Beijing and Lima also plan to sign some 30 bilateral agreements during Xi’s visit, including an updated free-trade agreement.

“We must build on our traditional friendship to expand and deepen mutually beneficial cooperation across the board, and make it more responsive to the requirements of the new era,” Xi said in an article under his name in Peruvian media outlet El Peruano, timed to coincide with his arrival.

“The world is undergoing faster transformation unseen in a century. Humanity has again come to a crossroads in history.”

Chinese citizens in Peru wait for Xi Jinping’s arrival at Jorge Chavez International Airport in Callao, outside Lima, on Thursday. Photo: AFP

From Lima, Xi is scheduled to travel to Brazil for an annual meeting of the G20 and attend a state visit with Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on November 20.