Chancay-Shanghai shipping route boosts foreign trade between China, Latin America

The Chancay-Shanghai two-way shipping route has handled nearly 200,000 tonnes of import and export cargo valued at five billion yuan (about 707 million U.S. dollars) since it officially opened on Dec. 18 last year, boosting the foreign trade between China and Latin American countries, especially Peru.

The route was made possible after the opening of the Chancay Port in Peru on Nov. 14 last year. The port is a deep-water hub and South America's first smart and green port, as well as a flagship Belt and Road cooperation project between China and Peru.

Its opening has significantly shortened shipping voyages between the two countries and cut costs for traders.

"Since the operation of Chancay Port, importers like us have seen our cost being cut by 20 percent, and sea freight transit time has been shortened from about 30 days to 22 or 23 days." said a fruit import merchant in Shanghai.

Further hastening imports, customs in Shanghai have been running a 24-hour green channel and established a full-process supervision and service model to ensure fast customs clearance.

"We always keep track of cargo arrival information in a timely manner and provide 24-hour inspection services to enable a rapid cargo inspection," said Qiu Wenjun, a customs officer at Yangshan Port.

In the first nine months of this year, Peru's exports rose almost 20 percent year on year, with China, Peru's largest export destination, buying around 42 percent of the country's agriculture exports, including high-value produce like avocados and blueberries.

"Before the port opened, COSCO Shipping's share of refrigerated containers from Peru to China only accounted for about five to six percent of the Peruvian market at that time. After a year of operation, this figure has now risen significantly to 23 to 24 percent," said Chen Xiaochen, a senior business representative for Latin America shipping routes at China's COSCO Shipping.

The central parity rate of the Chinese currency renminbi, or the yuan, strengthened 67 pips to 7.0686 against the U.S. dollar Thursday, according to the China Foreign Exchange Trade System.

In China's spot foreign exchange market, the yuan is allowed to rise or fall by 2 percent from the central parity rate each trading day.

The central parity rate of the yuan against the U.S. dollar is based on a weighted average of prices offered by market makers before the opening of the interbank market each business day.