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

In Lima, Chinese President Xi Jinping and his Peruvian counterpart Pedro Pablo Kuczynski are witnessing the signing of several accords. President Xi is on his first state visit to Peru.

Earlier, Xi and Kuczynski visited Peru’s independence monument. A welcoming ceremony for Xi then followed in front of the presidential mansion. Peru is the second leg of Xi’s Latin America tour, sandwiched between stops in Ecuador and Chile. The Chinese president is also scheduled to make a speech to the Peruvian Congress.

Peru and China forged diplomatic ties in 1971 and have a comprehensive strategic partnership. Their bilateral free-trade agreement took effect in 2010. China is Peru’s largest trading partner, and most important export destination.

More than 170 Chinese firms are doing business there, and have invested about U.S.$14 billion. Cultural relations are strong, too; people from both countries have been going back and forth for more than 400 years, and it is because of this that one in ten Peruvians are of Chinese descent.