Former Peruvian congressman hopes for empowered US-China relations

A former Peruvian congressman said the recent meeting between the leaders of China and the United States in Peru holds great significance for countries around the world, expressing hope that relations between the two sides would be empowered.

Chinese President Xi Jinping and U.S. President Joe Biden met in Peru during their attendance to the 31st APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting in Lima.

Guillermo Aliaga, legal expert and former Peruvian congressman, stressed that the meeting has global implications.

"I think that all the meetings that have been taking place here in Peru because of the APEC (summit) have been really important for both big countries. We don't have usually these kind of spaces where both leaders can have meetings and conversations in front of each other. They can talk about multiple things, including, of course, the security around the world. So I think it is really important," he said.

"If we don't have the appearance of both presidents, we might have some problems in order to take actual decisions. From the Peruvian point of view, we think that the presence of the president of China has been really important, especially to do with the new opening of the megaport that we have in Chancay that will have the new route to go to Shanghai," he said.

The Chancay Port, a project on under the China-proposed Belt and Road initiative, opened on November 14 and is set to enhance trade efficiency between South America and Asia, cutting shipping time to China to 23 days and reducing logistics costs by at least 20 percent.

According to Aliaga, the APEC meetings helped spotlight China's investments in the port and other projects in the eyes of U.S. leadership.

"At the same time, the United States has seen that China is investing right now in South America, especially in Peru. So they can talk between each other in order to see what kind of economic relations can be built or improved (between) both countries. Both countries are the biggest ones right now in the economy of the world. The forum of APEC is really important for not only these two countries and their citizens, it is really important also for the citizens around the world. I think that the relations between the two countries need to be empowered," he said.

Former Peruvian congressman hopes for empowered US-China relations

A cold wave has blanketed areas in northern China, bringing snow to some regions and prompting the National Meteorological Center to continuously issue blue cold wave warnings on Sunday.

China has a four-tier, color-coded weather warning system, with red representing the most severe weather, followed by orange, yellow and blue.

Parts of northern Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region in northwest China have experienced widespread snowfall and temperature drops in recent days. The railway authorities have taken measures such as suspending some passenger trains and mobilizing hundreds of workers overnight to carry out snow and ice removal operations.

At present, affected passenger trains are gradually resuming service.

Multiple regions of northwest China's Qinghai and Gansu provinces have experienced moderate to heavy snowfall from Saturday night to Sunday.

Road maintenance and traffic police departments have promptly carried out traffic management and snow removal operations to ensure smooth passage.

In some areas of Gansu's Zhangye City, snow accumulation reached up to 16 centimeters. While continuing snow removal on key road sections, local authorities have also increased patrols on bridges, culverts, and steep slopes to ensure the safety of travelers.

On Sunday morning, the Shaanxi Provincial Meteorological Bureau issued a blue snowstorm warning. From 10:00 Sunday to 10:00 Monday, most areas of northern Shaanxi, the northern part of the Guanzhong Plain, and parts of the Qinling-Bashan mountain range are expected to experience sleet or snow.

The National Meteorological Center predicts that from Sunday until Nov 28, temperatures will drop by 6 to 10 degrees Celsius across most of China.

During this period, many northern regions will experience widespread rain and snow, with Inner Mongolia and northeast region of China being the key areas for this rain and snow event.

It is expected that the heaviest snowfall will begin in northeast China's Heilongjiang Province on Tuesday, with local areas in the north possibly experiencing heavy to extremely heavy snowfall.

Cold wave brings snowfall, temperature drops to China's northern regions