Peruvian President Dina Ercilia Boluarte Zegarra will pay her first state visit to China from June 25 to 29 at the invitation of President Xi Jinping, the Chinese Foreign Ministry announced on Monday.
The two heads of state are expected to meet in Beijing and Chinese Premier Li Qiang and China’s top legislator Zhao Leji are also set to hold meetings with Boluarte. China aims to consolidate political mutual trust, deepen practical cooperation and advance the China-Peru comprehensive strategic partnership through Boluarte’s visit, according to the Foreign Ministry.
The last face-to-face meeting between Xi and Boluarte took place in November last year on the sidelines of the 30th Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Economic Leaders’ Meeting in San Francisco. They discussed strengthening traditional cooperation in fields such as energy and mineral resources and fostering new cooperation areas in digital economy and green development.
Xi said at the time that China was willing to import more agricultural products from Peru and encourage Chinese enterprises to participate in Peru’s major projects by market principles. The two sides also agreed to strengthen collaboration in education, culture, tourism and technology.
During Boluarte’s China visit, she will visit Hong Kong, Shenzhen, Shanghai and Beijing. Promoting economic and trade cooperation is one of the top issues on the agenda of the Peruvian president, Peruvian media outlets reported.
China is Peru’s largest trading partner, and Peru is China’s second-largest investment destination in Latin America. The two countries signed a free trade agreement in 2009, which came into effect in 2010, and a Memorandum of Understanding on Belt and Road Cooperation in 2019.
Peru is set to hold the APEC summit in November, and one of the major China-Peru Belt and Road cooperation projects, the Chancay Port, is also expected to be completed and start trial operations late this year, which means the APEC meeting is likely to coincide with the inauguration of the flagship port. (PR)
