China-Peru FTA to take effect in mid-January

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LIMA, Jan. 4 (Xinhua) -- The Peru-China Free Trade Agreement will come into force on Jan. 15, slightly earlier than planned, after Peru accelerated the ratification process in hopes of reaping early benefits from the bilateral accord, the Peruvian trade ministry said Monday.

The Peru-China FTA, originally scheduled to take effect on Feb.1, will now enter into force on Jan. 15, according to the Peruvian ministry.

"Initially we had estimated that the free trade agreement would be effective from the first of February," Peruvian Minister of Foreign Trade and Tourism Mercedez Araoz said.

Peru ratified the accord through a supreme decree signed by President Alan Garcia and Foreign Minister Jose Antonio Garcia Belaunde.

"I have talked with the foreign minister... The protocol between China and Peru to propose the date of application of the FTA will be realized this week," President Alan Garcia said.

The president said he hoped the FTA would deliver the order of an additional 800 million U.S. dollars worth of exports and imports in trade with China in the first year of the FTA pact.

China is Peru's second largest trading partner, with two-way trade in 2008 reaching 7.5 billion U.S. dollars, a 2 billion dollars rise over the previous year.

LIMA, Nov. 22 (Xinhua) -- Jia Qinglin, chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, arrived here Sunday, kicking off his official good-will visit to this South American country. The following are some basic facts about Peru.

Bordered by Ecuador and Colombia to the north, Brazil and Bolivia to the east and Chile to the south, the Republic of Peru is located in western South America. With an area of 1.29 million square km and Lima as its capital, Peru has a population of some 28.22 million, including Amerindians, Indian-Europeans, Europeans and others. The country's official language is Spanish. Full story

SINGAPORE, Nov. 14 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Hu Jintao Friday put forward a four-point proposal on reviving the world economy and several suggestions on developing relations with Indonesia, Chile and Peru.