A Peruvian expert on Asian affairs urged Apec member economies to take a page from China when formulating policies to stimulate the economy, pointing to exports and foreign investment as two key drivers.

World leaders are expected to gather in Shenzhen in the coming days, as the southern Chinese tech hub gets set to host the Apec Economic Leaders' Meeting.

On the eve of the summit, Shenzhen Media Group spoke with Carlos Aquino, an expert on China-Latin America ties who has been involved in Apec matters for years.

The director of the Centre for Asian Studies at Peru's National University of San Marcos also advises his government on Apec proceedings.

In an interview with Shenzhen TV, he explained how scholars like him contribute to the bloc.

"Within Apec, there is an Apec Study Centers Consortium. Every year scholars from Apec economies will meet. We give some ideas to officers, and the officers ... apply those policies to the economy," he said.

He said Apec could come in handy for nations looking to grow their economies but unsure about where to start.

"For example in Peru, we have industries, but we don't know how to sell ... to a market. So within the Apec framework, we can ask for help – economic help, economic cooperation to the whole economies.

"And we have already asked China, Japan, Korea. They sent an adviser, so they tell us how to produce something, or how to sell to those markets."

Last year, Peru's exports reached a record US$90 billion, up 60 percent from 2021.

More than a third of its exports went to China, its largest trading partner, while the United States ranked second at 11 percent.

"The engine of growth of Asian economy has been trade and investment. And also in Peru, that is happening. So we are learning from Asia that to grow the economy, you have to export and also [bring in] investment."

Ties between China and Peru took a big step forward in 2024, when President Xi Jinping visited Lima and inaugurated the Chancay port, north of the capital.

Aquino said the port, built and owned by Chinese shipping giant Cosco, has cut shipping costs between the two countries by 20 percent.

Other South American countries also stand to benefit, he believed.

"Colombia, Ecuador, Chile can bring the goods to Chancay Port and send [them] to China. So it's having a huge change not only for Peru, but also for the whole of Latin America," Aquino said.

"And you know, we are thinking of building a bi-oceanic railway between Chancay and Brazil. Perhaps if that is the case, Brazilian goods also will go cheaper to China."

He said that, as a result of Chancay, Peruvian exports to China jumped by 39 percent in the first seven months of this year.



Edited by Aaron Tam