Chinese President Xi Jinping (L) is welcomed by Peruvian President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski before the 24th APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting in Lima, Peru, Nov. 20, 2016. (Photo: Xinhua//Pang Xinglei)
DEEPEN CHINA-PERU COMPREHENSIVE STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIP
During his state visit, Xi and his Peruvian counterpart, Pedro Pablo Kuczynski, agreed to promote better and faster development of the two countries' comprehensive strategic partnership.
The consensus was reached on Monday during in-depth talks between the two heads of state after a red-carpet welcoming ceremony hosted by Kuczynski in front of the presidential palace.
Recalling Kuczynski's visit to China in September, the Peruvian president's first foreign visit since he was sworn in on July 28, Xi said they held fruitful talks and agreed to push forward bilateral relations into a new phase.
The coming five years are significant for national development of both countries, the Chinese president said, urging the two sides to weigh top-level design and overall planning for bilateral ties, run their cooperation mechanisms well, fully implement their joint action plan for cooperation in 2016-2021, and strengthen synergy of development strategies so as to score real results of their consensuses.
He stressed that both countries should treat industrial capacity cooperation as a new engine for their economic ties and strive for early harvest of major projects.
The two sides can also further reinforce cooperation in mining industry, energy and infrastructure construction, as well as explore new cooperation fields such as environmental protection, clean energy and information connectivity.
Calling on both countries to upgrade their free trade agreement signed in 2009 in a bid to inject new vitality into two-way trade, Xi said the Chinese government will continue to encourage Chinese enterprises to invest in the Latin American country.
Hailing the sustained growth of bilateral relations, Kuczynski said Peru is looking forward to further enhancing ties with China since both share similar historical experiences, same aspiration for national development, and huge potential for cooperation in the economic and cultural fields.
Following their talks, Xi and Kuczynski witnessed a signing ceremony of cooperation documents, including an inter-governmental joint action plan for cooperation in 2016-2021, and deals in trade and economy, mining industry, industrial parks, information connectivity, economic technology, quality inspection, environment and other fields.
Xi was later awarded the Grand-Cross Medal of Honor of the Peruvian Congress by Luz Salgado, president of the Congress.
Later in the day, Xi and his wife Peng Liyuan, warmly welcomed by Kuczynski and his wife Nancy Lange, attended the closing ceremony of a China-Latin America culture exchange year at the National Museum of Archaeology, Anthropology and History in Lima.
The China-Latin America and Caribbean 2016 Year of Culture Exchange, a climax of their cultural diplomacy, was proposed by Xi during his visit to the continent in July, 2014, and was widely welcomed by governments and peoples in the region.
Speaking at the ceremony, Xi called on China and Latin American countries to comprehensively learn from each other's cultural achievements, so as to make the cultural exchanges between China and Latin America and Caribbean a model for the harmonious coexistence and mutual promotion among different civilizations, and contribute to the world's cultural diversity.
Kuczynski, for his part, hailed the thousands-year-old civilizations of Peru and China, their mutual learning in the long history and closer cultural exchanges over the recent years.
After the ceremony, the two heads of state and their wives viewed an exhibition of 121 selected pieces of Chinese treasures spanning over its 5,000 years of civilization.
