Chinese PM arrives in Peru for official visit

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang arrived here Friday for an official visit to Peru, a Latin American country which has a free trade pact with China and wishes to diversify its economic cooperation with China.

Upon his arrival, Li said that Peru was among the first countries in Latin America to establish bilateral relations and reach a free trade agreement with China.

China and Peru have profound traditional friendship, extensive areas of practical cooperation and increasing common interests, Li said, adding that he wishes to consolidate the friendship and mutual trust with Peru and explore more opportunities for mutual cooperation in industrial capacity.

China is willing to share the development chance, promote exchanges and mutual learning among civilizations, benefit the two peoples and jointly work with Peru towards an even brighter future of the comprehensive strategic partnership between the two countries, Li said.

During his visit to Peru, Li will hold talks with Peruvian President Ollanta Humala and attend a joint press conference. He will also join a discussion with representatives from Chinese enterprises in Peru to learn about their experience in doing business here.

Li will also take part in a series of activities on mutual learning between Chinese and Latin American civilizations.

During Li's visit, the two nations are expected to sign cooperation agreements on economy and trade, infrastructure, technology, aerospace and communication, as well as industrial capacity, agricultural products and human resources.

The China-Peru trade volume reached 14.32 billion U.S. dollars in 2014, as the bilateral free trade pact has yielded fruits since it took effect in 2010. Chinese investment in Peru totaled to 14.24 billion dollars by the end of 2014.

Peru is the third leg of Li's four-nation tour to Latin America after Brazil and Colombia. He will also visit Chile.