Every autumn and winter, a box of blueberries from Peru will cross the mountains and seas to China. Taking advantage of the seasonal difference in the southern hemisphere, Peruvian blueberries are selling well in the China market-although the two countries are 17,000 kilometers apart, China is already the second largest buyer of Peruvian blueberries. Not only blueberries, Peruvian avocados and other agricultural products are also favored by China consumers. Peru is the first Latin American country to sign a package of free trade agreements with China. China has been Peru’s largest trading partner and largest export market for 10 consecutive years. This year’s 31st APEC Leaders ‘Informal Meeting was held in Lima, Peru. During this period, the heads of state of China and Peru jointly witnessed the signing of the upgrading protocol of the China-Peru Free Trade Agreement. At the same time, the two sides also attended the opening ceremony of Qiankai Port by video and announced the “opening of Qiankai Port”. With the official operation of Qiankai Port, the transportation time of goods exported from South America to Asian market will be shortened from 35 days to 25 days, the direct flight time will be greatly shortened, and the logistics cost will be greatly reduced. Peruvian characteristic agricultural products such as blueberries are expected to enter China market in a more convenient way.
This is armas square in lima, peru, on october 13 (drone photo). Xinhua Agency
Niu Haibin, director of the Institute of Foreign Policy of the Shanghai Institute of International Studies, told the first financial reporter that China-Peru upgraded FTA and the opening of Qian Kai Port have a strong realistic basis, both in terms of bilateral relations and economic and trade ties between Asia-Pacific and Latin America. In addition, Qiankai Port is invested and operated by Chinese enterprises, which also reflects the confidence of Chinese enterprises in Peru’s potential as a transportation hub connecting Asia-Pacific and South America. Qian Kai Port, which changed the pattern, actually started friendly exchanges between the Chinese and Peruvian peoples more than 400 years ago through the Maritime Silk Road and the “Manila Galleon,” that is, the “Ship of China.” In October 1849, 75 Chinese laborers arrived in Callao, Peru. For more than a century, many China have traveled to Peru in search of a happy life in this hot land. Peru is one of the Latin American countries with the earliest arrival and largest number of Chinese. Locals affectionately call China people “fellow villagers” and Peruvian Chinese restaurants are called “eating.” In May this year, Peru’s Congress voted to pass a bill deciding to designate February 1 of each year as Peruvian-Chinese Friendship Day. The bill highly values the outstanding contributions made by Chinese immigrants to Peru in the economic, social, cultural and scientific fields. As a new milestone in China-Peru relations, Qiankai Port is located in the Peruvian town of Qiankai, about 80 kilometers from Lima. Although the town is small, its geographical location is very special. It backs on the South American continent, faces the Pacific Ocean, and has a natural deep-water port. Building a port here has significant geographical advantages. This port, which is controlled and invested by Chinese enterprises, has attracted the attention of the world. As an important project of “One Belt and One Road” jointly built by China and Peru, the first phase of Qiankai Port Project was built in 2021, including 4 wharf berths. The maximum water depth of the port is 17.8 meters, and the super-large container ship capable of docking 18000 TEUs can realize the design throughput capacity of 1 million TEUs per year in the near future and 1.5 million TEUs in the long term. It is not easy to build Qiankai Port. The construction sea area is located in the Pacific Rim seismic belt. In addition, it is affected by ultra-long periodic waves and strong surges throughout the year, and the waves under extreme sea conditions are as high as 4m. China enterprises have carried out technical research on this issue and developed the first set of highly intelligent super-large self-mobile piling platform in the world. After overcoming multiple technical problems, Qiankai Port finally took shape. Before the completion of Qiankai Port, because Peru had no port that could dock large container ships, bulk goods sent from Asia and other regions to South America needed to dock in Mexico, Panama and other places, and the products could be transported to Peru and other countries only after sub-packaging. The freight cost was relatively high and the time was relatively long. After Qiankai Port is put into operation, the transportation time of goods exported from South America to the Asian market will be shortened from 35 days to 25 days; with the opening of the two-way direct route from Qiankai to Shanghai, the one-way shipping time between China and Peru will be shortened to 23 days, saving more than 20% of logistics costs and greatly improving trade convenience.
On November 14, intelligent equipment on the shore lifted containers at the port of Chankai, north of Lima, Peru. Xinhua Agency
After the opening of the port, COSCO “Peru Ship” and “New Shanghai Ship” began unloading operations respectively, and “Take-off Ship” slowly left the dock and whistled for voyage. Unmanned container trucks are busy moving through the docks. At present, Peru is the largest supplier of blueberries and avocados to China, and quinoa, grapes, maca, alpaca wool products and other commodities are also popular in China. After the opening of Qiankai Port, these commodities are expected to enter the China market in a more convenient way “from Qiankai to Shanghai”. When Peruvian blueberries are exported to China, in order to ensure that they are still fresh when they arrive at the China market after long-distance sea transportation, workers need to pick, pack and deliver blueberries when they are seven ripe. Now, with 10 days of faster shipping time, high-quality blueberries can be marketed in China with better maturity and have the opportunity to distribute to more China cities. “After the opening of Qiankai Port, we will ship more blueberries to China and the quality will be better,” said Maggio, production service manager of Peruvian international fruit and vegetable supplier Ganboxian. We plan to expand our acreage to meet the needs of the China market.”
Ismael Sutta Soto, Peru’s deputy minister of transportation, who attended the opening ceremony, said that this was a milestone in Peru’s port construction and trade development and the result of joint efforts by Peru and China. “Port Chankai will allow Peru to better integrate into the global economy, boost Peru’s long-term sustainable economic development, and have a positive impact on the lives of millions of Peruvians.” The radiation range of South American “Singapore” Qian Kai Port far exceeds that of China and Latin America. Japan and South Korea, both on the west coast of the Pacific Ocean, can share this “maritime expressway” across the eastern and western hemispheres and the northern and southern hemispheres through Shanghai; on the east coast of the United States, they can also use the east wind of this new channel to travel to Asia. Peruvians ‘expectations of Qiankai Port are still rising. “When people from Brazil, Venezuela, Bolivia, Paraguay or Argentina want to go to Asia, they see Peru as a port of departure.” “Our goal is to become the Singapore of Latin America,” said Raúl Pérez-Reyes, Peru’s transport minister. In response, Niu Haibin said that Peru has always attached importance to economic integration in Latin America, is a member of Alianza del Pacífico, attaches importance to the business environment and believes in a liberal economic management model. In its relations with Asia-Pacific countries, Peru is a member of the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (CPTPP) and has maintained close ties with China. In particular, Peruvian President Boruart overcame many difficulties in the first half of this year and paid a state visit to China, which is reflected in his high political importance. However, the completion of Qiankai Port has also caused “anxiety” in other Latin American countries. For example, Chile’s former transportation minister criticized Chile for “too slow”. In this regard, Niu Haibin told reporters, Qiankai port has a first-mover advantage, at present in South America Pacific coast there is no similar port, in ocean shipping, enjoy very strong competitiveness. Qian Kai Port is a microcosm of China-Peru cooperation. China has become Peru’s largest trading partner and largest export market for 10 consecutive years. Major cooperation projects in mining and infrastructure construction between the two countries have been steadily promoted, bringing tangible benefits to the two peoples. In June this year, China and Peru announced the substantive completion of negotiations on upgrading the FTA. On November 14, Minister of Commerce Wang Wentao and Peruvian Minister of Foreign Trade and Tourism Leon signed the Protocol on Upgrading China-Peru Free Trade Agreement on behalf of their respective governments. The updated version of the FTA covers customs procedures and trade facilitation, trade in services, investment, e-commerce and other fields, which is expected to greatly increase the trade volume between the two countries. According to the report of the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, the trade volume of goods between China and Latin America has continued to expand in recent years, reaching 489 billion US dollars last year. In the first three quarters of this year, China-Latin America goods trade volume reached US $427.4 billion, up 7.7% year-on-year, and is expected to exceed US $500 billion for the whole year. Peru is China’s fourth largest trading partner and important investment destination in Latin America. The bilateral trade volume between the two countries in 2023 is nearly 37.7 billion US dollars.