Peruvian President Dina Boluarte met business leaders and local government officials in Shanghai and east China's Suzhou City on Thursday as she continues her five-day state visit to China, her first since taking office in 2022.
Boluarte attended an investment forum in Shanghai on Thursday and delivered a speech in which she expressed hopes for increased investments from China, while also pointing to the important role the under-construction Chancay Port can play in Peru.
The mega port, seen as a signature project under the Belt and Road Initiative in Latin America, is expected to be inaugurated in November. It will help reduce the overall travel time of ships between China and South America by up to one-third.
"Chancay port will make Peru a leading logistics hub for cross-border transportation in the South American-Pacific region. It will serve as coordinator of trade routes across the region," Boluarte said at the forum.
The Peruvian president also met with authorities of Chinese shipping giant Cosco Shipping, the majority shareholder of the Chancay Port. Those involved in the pivotal project say the considerable Chinese investment is likely to bring positive developments to Peru.
"In 2019, we made an agreement [that] 60 percent of the shares belong to Cosco shipping, and 40 percent to the Peruvians. In my case and the Peruvians, we see with very good eyes the Chinese investments. And I think that's good for Peru," said Jose Picasso Salinas, vice chairman of the Cosco Shipping's Chancay project in Peru.
China is Peru's largest trading partner with official data showing that the import and export volume between the two sides exceeded 36 billion U.S. dollars in 2023, up 6.6 percent over the previous year.
After her stop in Shanghai, Boluarte later traveled to the nearby city of Suzhou in east China's Jiangsu Province on Thursday afternoon and visited an industrial park along with her delegation.
Later this week, Boluarte is scheduled to hold talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping and other leaders in Beijing. The two leaders last met on the sidelines of the APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting in San Francisco last November, during which the two pledged to deepen relations and strengthen bilateral cooperation.
Boluarte began her trip in the southern tech hub of Shenzhen on Tuesday, where she met with leading enterprises including telecoms giant Huawei and automaker BYD, and signed cooperation agreements.
Peruvian president meets business leaders, officials in Shanghai, Jiangsu
Central China's Henan Province has striven over the past more than ten years to build itself into a hinterland hub of reform and opening up through vigorous development of aviation logistics and cross-border trade, and with the adoption of a series of reform measures meant to improve the business environment.
In the provincial capital city of Zhengzhou, the Xinzheng International Airport has become the first in China to introduce an automated guided vehicle (AGV) smart application project. Acting on commands issued by the backstage, this groundbreaking project features 40 unmanned forklifts that effortlessly distribute goods to 1,284 standardized storage locations.
Within the sprawling 70,000-square-meter cargo terminal, a sophisticated intelligent system acts as the brain, automatically calculating the remaining storage capacity and providing early warnings for any potential irregularities in every corner. Beyond enhanced operational efficiency, the implementation of this intelligent system has also resulted in faster and more efficient outbound cargo shipments.
Notably, in May 2020, the Xinzheng International Airport became the sole pilot airport designated to operate air cargo e-freight in China on a trial basis.
The air cargo e-freight platform has revolutionized the industry by digitizing various air cargo documents and customs declarations. This seamless integration has created a comprehensive data chain, connecting foreign trade enterprises, freight forwarders, customs authorities and airlines within the aviation logistics operation chain.
Previously, the process of cargo security declarations used to involve cumbersome paperwork. But now, a single unified platform streamlines the procedure, eliminating the need for redundant submissions and multiple physical visits, effectively easing long-standing bottlenecks.
The adoption of such bold reform measures has significantly improved the business environment. Over 260 companies have already joined the e-freight platform, saving more than 1.5 million paper documents annually and increasing data transmission efficiency by over 20 percent.
As a result, the Xinzheng International Airport air cargo e-freight project was selected into the seventh batch of successful reform projects in China's national-level free trade zones, with plans for replication and nationwide promotion.
With over a decade of development, the Xinzheng International Airport has established more than 40 all-cargo routes, creating an extensive air cargo network that spans Europe, America and Asia, covering major global economic hubs.
Central China province strives to turn itself into hub of reform, opening up
