The ceremony inaugurating the first phase of operations at the Chancay Port in Peru combined the solemnity and the celebrity this historic occasion merited. The Presidents of Peru and China, Dina Boluarte and Xi Jinping, cabinet ministers from both nations, military officers, the head of Peru’s Congress and Supreme Court, and other dignitaries gathered at the National Palace in Lima, were connected by video to the ceremonial site at the Port of Chancay, some 80 km north of Lima, where a group of more than 200 Peruvian and Chinese dignitaries were seated outside at the port, facing a great screen, with brightly lit giant cranes and two enormous COSCO container ships framing the ceremony. Chinese and Peruvians flags waved. At shortly after 7 p.m. Lima time (8 a.m. Nov. 15 in Beijing), port operations were initiated, and streamers showered, as Chinese dragon dancers and Peruvian native dancers leapt into action, and everyone clapped.
Plans to build a deepwater port at Chancay had been worked on for some years, but went nowhere serious until China’s private shipping-port giant, COSCO, offered to come in on the project in 2019, putting forward the concept of the port as the center of a major logistical-industrial hub. Peru’s private Volcan Mining company teamed up with COSCO, taking 40% of the project. Despite the COVID pandemic, economic and political upheavals in Peru and gigantic geopolitical pressures spearheaded by the United States, the first phase of the project has been completed.
This is an “historic moment for Peru and all Peruvians,” said President Dina Boluarte when she addressed the ceremony. Chancay will not just increase trade with Asian markets; the port is the beginning of a new phase of our development, she said with clear pride and happiness. It will increase Peru’s productive capacity, diversify its economy, and benefit the lives of its people. Chancay will consolidate Peru as a world-class logistical, technological, and industrial center, she emphasized, and it will put Peru at the center of trade with the Asia Pacific, which is the center of economic growth in the world. She warmly thanked China for showing confidence in Peru, and invited the other countries of Latin America and the Caribbean to share in the benefits that Chancay will bring.
