Chinese President Xi Jinping (center) and Peruvian President Dina Boluarte arrive at the virtual groundbreaking ceremony for a Chinese-funded megaport in the Peruvian city of Chancay. At the Government Palace, in Lima, November 14, 2024. FERNANDO VERGARA/AP It was cautiously, by videoconference from Lima, that Chinese President Xi Jinping virtually cut the inauguration ribbon of the giant port of Chancay. Located 80 kilometers north of the capital, it symbolizes Peru’s commercial ambitions, the Chinese offensive in Latin America and the collapse of American influence in this region. Read also | Article reserved for our subscribers In Peru, Xi Jinping inaugurates a Chinese port, a stop on the Silk Roads in the region Read later Established on the site of a peaceful fishing village on the desert coast of the north of the country, the port will become , within ten years, one of the largest port infrastructures in Latin America, with its 141 hectares and fifteen loading docks. The total investment of 3.6 billion dollars (3.4 billion euros) was made by the Chinese state group Cosco Shipping. Here, we drive, we telephone and we transship Chinese. The industrial park could also soon host an assembly plant for the electric car giant BYD. Hence the enthusiasm of Xi Jinping, celebrating the birth of this land-sea corridor between Asia and South America. “A new Inca Trail”, according to the Chinese leader, which will allow Peru to export its copper and agricultural products and Brazil to send its soybeans to China, reducing transport time between America by ten days. and Asia. Massive investments It is indeed the Chinese objective to further increase the scale of its trade. These primarily involve its global Belt and Road Initiative project (literally the “Road and Belt Initiative”, the official name of the “new Silk Road”), launched in 2013 and which allows it to conclude partnerships accompanied by massive infrastructure investments in the countries concerned. Already, Argentina, Chile, Bolivia, Ecuador, Venezuela are members, and Brazil should join the club shortly. The belt is growing and gradually ejecting the former king of the Americas, the United States, from its traditional garden. China has become the largest trading partner of almost all South American countries. Thus, in Peru, mines and electricity supply are largely operated by Chinese groups. Since 2015, the volume of trade with Beijing has exceeded that with Washington and is now almost twice as large. Read also | Asia-Pacific Summit: Xi Jinping and Joe Biden in Lima for a key meeting before the return of Donald Trump Read later Here are some interesting discussions in perspective between Joe Biden and Xi Jinping, both in Lima for the summit of the countries of the Peaceful. They will even be able to continue the conversation at the G20 summit in Brazil on November 18. Not sure that the new Trump administration which is being established, all with its protectionist desire and its hatred of China, will improve the atmosphere or the situation. America isolates itself, at its own risk.
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