Can Hongkongers make it big in Peru? The country’s Chinese community, experts weigh in
The South American country is set to sign a free-trade agreement with Hong Kong, but dozens of city residents have called it home for decades
In 1979, Law Kit-man decided to join his dad in Lima, Peru, to run a Chinese restaurant at age 21, after finding Hong Kong’s cost of living too high and its labour market too competitive when it began shifting toward a service-based economy.
After more than 40 years in the Peruvian capital, Law now runs two hotels and a casino, and is married to another Chinese migrant, with whom he has two children.
The businessman is the third generation of his family to settle in South America, with his grandfather leaving mainland China in 1940 to look for opportunities and stability on the continent.
Law said he had fully integrated into Peruvian society and adopted the Spanish name Vicente, noting he particularly enjoyed the slower pace of life in South America.
Peru is home to more than 100,000 first-generation Chinese immigrants, including a few dozen Hongkongers, with the country boasting a history of Chinese migration spanning more than a century.
On Wednesday local time, Peru also welcomed Hong Kong leader John Lee Ka-chiu as he arrived in Lima for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit, where city officials are expected to sign a free-trade agreement with the country.
But Law, president of the Central Society of Chinese Beneficence, a body that has supported Peruvian Chinese since 1886, noted the overwhelming majority of the Chinese immigrants coming to Peru were from Guangdong province, which neighbours Hong Kong.
