China-Peru Free Trade Agreement (FTA) entered into force on March 1, 2010, which was the 8th FTA (including the CEPA between Mainland and Hong Kang and Macao) signed and executed. China and Peru started FTA negotiation and signed the agreement amid the financial crisis, and implemented it at the early economic recovery period after the crisis. It shall greatly promote the economic growth and friendly cooperation of the two countries, and shall further enhance China-Peru strategic partnership.
The China-Peru FTA features wide coverage and high degree of openness. Over 90 percent of goods trade between China and Peru will enjoy zero tariff on a stage-by-stage basis. Goods trade covers China's products from light industry, electronics, home appliances, machinery, automobile, chemicals, vegetables and fruits, and Peru's fish powder, minerals, fruits and fish products. In service trade, both countries pledge to further open up their service sectors based on their respective commitments to WTO. Peru’s 90 industries including research and development, leasing, technical testing and analysis, agriculture, mining, express delivery and tourist guide, and China’s 16 industries including mining, management and consulting, R & D, translation and interpretation, sports and tourism will further be opened up to each other. In terms of investment, each side will give National Treatment, MFN and Fair and Equitable Treatment to investors from the other side, and encourage and provide facilitation to investment The two countries also reached agreements on such issues as intellectual property, trade relief, rules of origin, customs procedures, TBT and SPS, etc. More information can be found at "China Free Trade Area Service" (fta.mofcom.gov.cn).
China and Peru commenced FTA negotiations on September 7th, 2007, when Chinese President Hu Jintao and Peruvian President Garcia attended APEC informal leadership meeting in Sydney, and announced jointly to commence the negotiation. 8 rounds of negotiation and one Working Group meeting were held, before November 19th, 2008 when President Hu Jintao was on a state visit to Peru and announced jointly with Peruvian President Garcia that China - Peru FTA negotiations was concluded successfully. And on April 28，2009, representatives of the two governments signed China-Peru FTA in the Great Hall of the People.
China and Peru are strongly complementary in economy, and bilateral relations are developing rapidly in recent years. At present, China is Peru's second largest trading partner, while Peru is China's seventh largest trading partner in Latin America. According to statistics from Chinese customs, bilateral trade in 2008 reached USD7.5 billion, up 24% compared with the previous year, among which China’s exports are USD2.8 billion and imports are USD4.7 billion. Affected by the financial crisis, bilateral trade in 2009 was US$ 6.4 billion, although suffering a year-on-year decline, it was still much better than the overall levels of China’s trade with the world. Peru is becoming one of China’s primary destinations for investment and trade in Latin America.
Up to date, China has signed and implemented FTA with ASEAN, Chile, Pakistan, New Zealand, Singapore and Peru, and has concluded FTA negotiations with Costa Rica; at present, China is negotiating FTA with Australia, the Gulf Cooperation Council (including six countries of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, UAE, Oman, Qatar and Bahrain), Iceland and Norway.
