Xi Jinping hails Peru megaport as new era in China’s belt and road ambitions

The Chinese leader and his Peruvian counterpart officially opened Chancay Port ‘connecting the Inca trail and the maritime silk road’

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China’s President Xi Jinping and his Peruvian counterpart Dina Boluarte at an inauguration event for the Chancay megaport at the government palace in Lima on Thursday. Photo: EPA

Published: 11:17am, 15 Nov 2024Updated: 2:08am, 16 Nov 2024

Chinese President Xi Jinping took part in the inauguration of a major Beijing-funded port in Chancay, Peru, on Thursday, hailing the US$3.5 billion project as “the birth of a new land-sea passage for a new era”.

In his speech at the megaport’s opening ceremony, the Chinese leader praised the project as “a successful case of Sino-Peruvian cooperation under the aegis of the Belt and Road Initiative”.

Xi said the investment would create a new maritime corridor between China and Latin America, “connecting the great Inca trail and the maritime Silk Road, paving the way for common prosperity for Peru” and other nations in the region.

“More than 2,000 years ago, Chinese ancestors set sail across the Pacific, forging the Maritime Silk Road and connecting East and West. Over 500 years ago, Peruvian Inca people fearlessly crossed mountains and valleys, building the Inca Trail that traversed the Andes from north to south,” Xi added.

“Today, the Chancay port is becoming a new starting point for a modern Inca Trail. From Chancay to Shanghai, we are witnessing not just new development under the belt and road initiative in Peru, but also the birth of a new land-sea passage for a new era.”

The Chinese leader also urged project partners to boost transport capacity, improve services and strengthen connections between South America and China.