A Beijing-funded project to build a vast railroad between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, across Peru, would respect the region’s environment including the Amazon basin, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang (李克強) said.
“The three countries that the viability of this project will not only be favorable to our common development, but will also protect the environment,” Li said upon arrival in Lima on Friday.
He is visiting Peru on a tour of South America that also includes trips to Brazil, Colombia and Chile.
“China respects Latin America’s biodiversity,” Li said. “To create the infrastructure, it is necessary to protect the environment,” he added in a joint declaration made with Peruvian President Ollanta Humala after they signed 10 cooperation accords.
China is Peru’s principal trading partner, Humala said.
Commerce between the two nations has more than doubled to US$16 billion since a free-trade agreement went into effect in 2010.
Peruvian exports to China mainly comprise mining products such as copper, zinc and iron.
The railroad could cost US$10 billion.
Humala said it would “consolidate Peru’s geopolitical position as the natural entry to South America.”
Peru wants to position itself as the regional hub for trade between Latin America and the Asia-Pacific region; it already serves as an outlet port for several regional nations, including Brazil.
Peru and China have special historical ties due to the arrival in Peru between 1849 and 1874 of more than 100,000 laborers who helped build the Peruvian economy through sugar production, guano collection and the building of railways.
El Callao, not far from the capital Lima, is the number one Pacific port in South America in terms of container traffic.
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