Peru holds APEC Leaders' Informal Meeting this week, foreign media focuses on the prospects of pragmatic cooperation between China and Peru

This week, Peru will welcome the leaders of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) members. According to a previous announcement by the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, President Xi Jinping will attend the 31st APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting in Lima from November 13 to 17 and pay a state visit to Peru at the invitation of Peruvian President Borualt. After landing at Jorge Chavez International Airport in Lima, Peru on the evening of the 11th local time, a reporter from Global Times immediately felt Peru's enthusiastic efforts to prepare for the 2024 APEC meeting: young people dressed in traditional ethnic costumes danced the local characteristic scissor dance to welcome, attracting tourists to take photos together. On the way from the airport to the hotel, the reporter also discovered many Chinese elements: from the advertisement of Chinese enterprises wishing APEC a smooth event to the Chinese cars driving on the road, the friendly atmosphere between China and Peru is obvious.

The news that Chinese leaders will attend the APEC meeting in Peru has attracted a lot of media attention, "Argentina's Buenos Aires Economic News Network reported on the 11th. During this period, China and Peru will hold talks on a variety of bilateral issues to further deepen the comprehensive strategic partnership between the two countries. According to Reuters, during the APEC meeting, China and Peru may sign more agreements covering intellectual property, e-commerce, customs procedures, etc. Both sides are also expected to update the 2009 free trade agreement.

According to a report by Spanish news agency EFE, the state visit of Chinese leaders to Peru has "attracted great attention". China has become Peru's largest trading partner, and its investment in this country next to the Andes Mountains is showing a surge. The report cites the analysis of international experts from the Catholic University of Peru, who believe that APEC is an important occasion to showcase China's importance in the region and globally.

The completion ceremony of Qiankai Port may become a major highlight during the visit of Chinese leaders to Peru. According to the Buenos Aires Economic News Network, this infrastructure that Peru attaches great importance to symbolizes the solid cooperative relationship between China and Peru, and also indicates that the economic relationship between the two countries will be further strengthened. After the APEC meeting, the Chinese leader will travel to Brazil to attend the G20 Leaders' Summit, which will also be his second visit to Brazil in five years. The relationship between China and Pakistan has significantly recovered since Lula returned to power in Brazil, "commented the report.

The report believes that the visit of Chinese leaders to Latin America will further strengthen China's role in the region. It can be said that this is an important milestone in China's foreign policy towards Latin America... Both China Peru relations and China Pakistan relations are currently showing a very positive trend. "The article states that in April last year and June this year, leaders from Brazil and Peru also visited China, further consolidating China's multilateral cooperation with Latin America, involving many key areas such as economy, trade, and technology.

Public information shows that China has been Peru's largest trading partner for several consecutive years, and Peru is China's fourth largest trading partner and important investment destination in Latin America. The bilateral trade volume between the two countries is expected to reach nearly 37.7 billion US dollars in 2023. This year, the two countries also announced the substantial completion of negotiations to upgrade their free trade agreement. Previously, during Boruaart's visit to China, he stated that the investment cooperation of Chinese enterprises in Peru has not only created a large number of jobs for Peru, but also brought advanced technology and experience.

The different roles played by China and the United States in Latin America have also become the focus of media attention. At this year's APEC meeting, the United States will see China's increasing influence in Latin America, the traditional "sphere of influence" of Washington. Reuters said on the 12th that the situation in Peru shows the challenges faced by the United States in Latin America in recent years: since 2015, the total trade volume between China and Peru has exceeded that of the United States, and this gap has continued to widen during the last two US administrations.

The report quoted a Lima political analyst as saying that cooperation with China will be a key factor for Latin America to move towards a new stage of manufacturing and technological development, and it will make the region reappear as an important trading region on the international stage.

Jose Tam, the chairman of the China Chamber of Commerce, told Reuters that China's investment in large-scale projects such as Qiankai Port may lead to the construction of more projects, and the cooperation between China and Latin America has always been very "pragmatic". China has sent the clearest positive signal in this region, "Tan Yiyong commented. Another Peruvian business person said that Peru is open to all investors, "If the United States comes to invest, that's a good thing. However, this hasn't happened for many years

Public information shows that this is Peru's third time hosting the APEC meeting as the rotating chair country after 2008 and 2016. The theme of this conference is "Empowerment, Inclusion, and Growth", which will focus on discussing strengthening open, free, and inclusive trade, promoting sustainable economic growth across all sectors of society, and advancing global energy transformation.