Full coverage: Xi Visits Ecuador, Peru and Chile, Attends APEC Summit

Peruvian President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski has hailed the country's friendly relations with China. In an interview with CCTV ahead of President Xi Jinping's visit, President Kuczynski says the current bilateral cooperation in multiple sectors including mining and transportation is progressing. He also hopes the meeting with President Xi will help Peru to tap into new markets in China.

It will be the second meeting between President Kuczynski and President Xi. The Peruvian president was sworn in in July and in less than two months, he made his first visit abroad. The destination, instead of a Latin American nation, was China. President Kuczynski said China's remarkable economic achievements can provide a lesson for his country.

"China is the first country that I visited as the president of Peru. I had very effective talks with President Xi Jinping in Beijing. We discussed cooperation in mining. There are a lot of investments from China in Peru's mining sector. We also discussed development of transportation and tourism in the future. We will make further progress in these areas in coming years," said Kuczynski.

China is Peru's largest trade partner. Data from China's Ministry of Commerce shows the trade volume between the two countries hit 14.5 billion US dollars last year. Peru is one of China's major partners for industrial capacity cooperation. And President Kuczynski says there are even greater potentials for cooperation. 

"We hope to tap into new markets in China, especially for agriculture. We are also interested in cooperations on science and technology. Furthermore, cultural exchanges and cooperation in archaeology and climate change are also very important for us," said Kuczynski.

Kuczynski also says Peru looks forward to overcoming challenges that lie ahead and strengthening relations with China.
 
"I think the meeting with President Xi is very significant, especially when the global economic landscape has been changed and multiple uncertainties remain. And apparently that will be a very important topic for the APEC meeting," said Kuczynski.

After a visit to Ecuador, President Xi Jinping is now in Peru's capital Lima for a state visit and attendance at the APEC meeting. He will travel to Chile afterwards to end his tour in Latin America.