China opens strategic Chancay port, strengthening ties in Peru
China's leader, Xi Jinping, virtually inaugurated the large Chancay port near Lima on Thursday. Constructed, financed, and controlled by a state-owned Chinese company, the port aims to streamline the direct transport of goods between Asia and South America. China's economic influence in Peru is on the rise.
Xi participated in the port opening ceremony virtually via video link from Lima, alongside the President of Peru, Dina Boluarte, who stated that this project signifies the beginning of Peru's transformation into a world-class logistics, technology, and industrial hub.
The German agency dpa highlights that this is the first China-controlled port in South America.
Xi declared that the port is part of the "21st Century Maritime Silk Road" and that Beijing is ready to collaborate with Lima to create a "new maritime-land corridor between China and Latin America."
In an article published in the official newspaper "El Peruano," Xi argued that the Chancay port will generate operations of approximately 4.5 billion USD (3.5 billion GBP) annually, create over 8,000 direct jobs, and reduce transportation costs on the Peru-China route by 20%.
According to the Spanish-language CNN station, it will be the largest deep-water port on the South American Pacific coast and may revolutionise trade on the continent. Peruvian officials estimated it would reduce the transportation time of goods to and from China by ten or, on some routes, even 20 days.
Chancay port is located about 80 kilometres north of Lima. It is 60% owned and controlled by the state-owned Chinese company Cosco Shipping. In the first phase of the project, the Chinese invested 1.3 billion USD (1 billion GBP), with the project's total cost estimated at over 3.5 billion USD (2,8 billion GBP).
The port is expected to facilitate the transportation not only of copper or fruits from Peru to China but also goods from other countries, especially soybeans or iron ore from Brazil.
Commentators see the port's opening as part of the increasing rivalry between China and the United States, occurring in the resource-rich region traditionally regarded by Washington as a sphere of influence.
China wins the battle for influence in South America
Gen. Laura Richardson, former head of the US Southern Command, warned in November that the Chancay navy could use the Chinese port for intelligence gathering.
Media and analysts simultaneously emphasise that the growth of China's economic influence in Peru is part of a larger trend visible across the continent. In recent decades, China has surpassed the USA as the largest trading partner of most prominent South American countries, including Brazil, Argentina, and Chile.
