“From Chancay to Shanghai” has become a popular slogan in Peru, with the port of Chancay, a flagship project of China’s proposed Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), being ceremoniously opened on Thursday.
The $1.3 billion megaproject is set to transform regional trade by providing space for the world’s largest cargo ships and significantly reducing shipping times. In the first phase of the project, the sea route from Peru to China will be shortened to 23 days, reducing logistics costs by at least 20 percent.
The new port has four landing points with a maximum depth of 17.8 meters, where ultra-large container ships with a capacity of 18,000 TEU (Twenty-foot Equivalent Units) can dock. The port’s planned annual handling capacity is one million TEU in the short term and 1.5 million TEU in the long term, making it an important hub for trade between Latin America and Asia.
Chinese President Xi said in the article he signed and published Thursday in the Peruvian daily El Peruano that the Chancay port project will bring Peru $4.5 billion in annual revenue and create more than 8,000 direct jobs.
Xi and his Peruvian counterpart Dina Boluarte attended the opening ceremony of the Chancay port via video link on Thursday.
“From Chancay to Shanghai, we are witnessing not only the roots and blossoming of the New Silk Road in Peru, but also the birth of a new gateway connecting land and sea, Asia and Latin America,” President Xi said at the opening ceremony.
Xi flew to Peru on Thursday on a state visit to attend the 31st APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting. It is his sixth visit to the continent since 2013.
Transforming regional trade dynamics
Chancay Port is not only a good deep-water port, but also the first smart and green port in South America, Xi said.
The strategically located port serves as Peru’s gateway to the Pacific. It is connected to the Pan-American Highway via a tunnel and offers direct access to Peru’s capital Lima. As the first “sea highway” to Latin America, it will enable faster and more cost-efficient transport of Peruvian export goods such as cranberries and avocados to Asian markets.
“Our goal is to become the Singapore of Latin America, so that port cargo passes through here on its way to Asia. If someone from Brazil, Venezuela, Bolivia, Paraguay and Argentina wants to travel to Asia, they should consider Peru as a starting point,” Peruvian Transport Minister Raul Perez Reyes told reporters last month.
The construction of Chancay Port is in line with the growing demand for trade between China and Latin America.
In addition, Peru has initiated plans to develop a railway and highway network that will connect the port of Chancay to the country’s major cities, with potential future connections to the transport networks of other regional countries. This could support the efficient export of Brazilian soybeans, iron ore, frozen meat, Colombian coffee, avocados and other goods to Asia via this new trade route.
“The port of Chancay will help Peru improve shipping efficiency and deepen trade cooperation with Asia,” said David Gamero, deputy head of the Chancay megaport project. He added that in addition to the direct economic benefits, the huge port will also bring promote the development of Latin America’s logistics value chain and promote technological and industrial growth, creating a “multiplier effect”.
Xi once referred to Peru as “China’s neighbor across the Pacific” and quoted an ancient Chinese poem to describe China’s relations with the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean: “True friends always feel close to each other, no matter how far they are from each other are removed”.
Once operational, the Port of Chancay will integrate the entire Latin American region into the dynamic economic framework of the Asia-Pacific region and significantly improve connectivity within the continent and beyond.
Intensifying cooperation between China and Latin America
The New Silk Road proposed by China in 2013 was expanded to include Latin America and the Caribbean in 2017.
According to the report of a steering group for the Belt and Road Initiative, 22 countries in the region have signed BRI cooperation documents with China by 2023. Notable projects include the Belo Monte hydroelectric power plant in Brazil and Argentina’s Belgrano-Cargas railway line, to name a few.
China has also been Latin America’s second largest trading partner since 2012. In 2023, the total trade volume between China and Latin American countries exceeded $489 billion.
Experts say China’s investments and technical assistance are helping Latin American countries accelerate their economic development and have become an important driving force for the development of the global South. They also expressed expectation that Xi’s participation in APEC will give positive impetus to regional integration and economic cooperation.
Rafael del Campo Quintana, vice president of the Peruvian Exporters Association, explained that APEC is not only an important platform to promote regional trade and economic cooperation, but also offers developing countries, including Peru, the opportunity to deeply integrate into the global economy.
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