Xi Jinping was due in Peru to open a Chinese-backed megaport at Chancay, about 80km north of Lima, while the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum met in the capital on November 15-16. It was the third time Peru had hosted the leaders’ summit since joining APEC in 1998.
The earlier ones came in 2008 and 2016. Like those, the 2024 meeting followed a U.S. presidential election. Donald Trump’s win, and his plans for tariffs of 10-20% on imports in general and 60% on Chinese goods, were expected to dominate talks on the sidelines, according to a pre-summit column in the Otago Daily Times. At least 14 leaders had confirmed they would attend, among them Xi, Japan’s new Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, Canada’s Justin Trudeau and New Zealand’s Christopher Luxon.
A forum with an unusual guest list
APEC was founded in 1989 and has 21 members. China and Taiwan sit in it together, alongside Japan, Russia and the United States. Its economies make up 38% of the world’s population and more than 60% of global GDP. The column’s author, Geoffrey Miller, argued that in a polarised world this inclusiveness is now a major selling point.
It was also the forum’s 35th anniversary. Miller pointed to the trade pact now known as the CPTPP as APEC’s biggest single success. The deal grew out of talks between Singapore and New Zealand on the sidelines of the 1999 gathering in Auckland, and it entered into force in 2018.
What Peru gets out of it
The MEIG Programme at the University of Geneva looked at the payoff for Peru in a March 2025 analysis. Its author, Lisseth Lipa Cano, credited the summit with helping revive a tourism sector still recovering from the pandemic, with meetings held in Cusco, Arequipa, Pucallpa, Trujillo and Lima.
Peru has signed bilateral free-trade agreements with China, Singapore, Thailand, South Korea, Chile, Mexico, Japan and Australia since joining. About 5,200 Peruvian companies sold goods to APEC economies, worth 37,994 million dollars, or 66% of the country’s goods trade. Around 1,500 small and medium-sized enterprises and 2,200 micro, small and medium enterprises now trade more efficiently with the region. Between 2016 and 2021, Peru received USD 2,823,000 in APEC funds for 36 projects.
Business meetings at the summit brought in tourism producers from other countries who offered marketing advice for Peruvian products. Women-led “Made in Peru” projects also drew attention.
Chancay
The port was finished in November 2024. Once running, it can take ships carrying up to 18,000 twenty-foot container units, with later expansion to 24,000. For comparison, the largest container ship ever to call at a New Zealand port carried 11,294. Miller called it a game-changer for Peru, and the MEIG analysis cites it as an example of deepening trade with Asia, particularly China.
Sources
- Highlight 19/2025: What were the benefits of APEC 2024 for Peru as a host economy? – MEIG Programme
- Trump’s election win puts new spin on Apec summit
