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García promotes objectives to increase relations during China visit

President Alan García laid out 10 objectives to increase relations with China by 2015 during a meeting with his Chinese counterpart Wednesday. The meeting came on the second day of García’s visit to the Asian country and follows official meetings in Japan earlier this week.

García told President Hu Jintao of China that increasing economic and cultural relations between the two countries is possible because of Peru’s current economic and political stability, according to information released by the president’s office. He added that foreign investments will continue to profit and be mutually beneficial as the Peruvian economy continues to liberalize.

García’s first objective is to increase Peruvian exports to China from about $3 billion a year to $15 billion, while increasing Chinese imports from some $2.7 billion to $12 billion over the next seven years.

García said he would also like to see Chinese investment in Peru’s mining industry increase from $1 billion to more than $10 billion through investments in 10 copper and iron mines, as well as one iron and steel and two petrochemical projects.

He proposed increasing ties by using Chinese shipping technology to construct a deep water port in the city of Marcona, located in Peru’s southern Ica Department, and negotiating with an airline company to create a direct route between Lima and the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou.

García said he would also like to increase Chinese tourism to Peru from the current 10,000 visitors a year to at least 300,000 annually by 2015 by promoting tourism services and hotels with information in Chinese. He also proposed greater cooperation with Chinese timber and furniture companies like Universal Flooring, which opened a production plant in Lima last December.

Another objective is to create an agreement that will allow Chinese products and Peruvian fruits more open access to each others markets, while also providing Chinese companies concessions to 100,000 hectares, or about 247,105 acres, in order to produce goods for their national market.

García is also seeking to improve nutrition through Chinese specialists who can provide new information related to fishing practices. He said he would like to see Chinese medicines in Peru, something that will likely occur if the two nations ratify and implement a bilateral free trade agreement later this year.

García’s final objective is to increase cultural understanding between China and Peru by promoting Chinese language classes in Peru’s public schools.

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