China's new consumer demand adds impetus to China Peru economic and trade cooperation (expert interpretation)

Peru is the first Latin American country to sign a package of free trade agreements with China, and one of the first Latin American countries to join the "belt and road" initiative. According to the website of the Ministry of foreign trade and tourism of Peru, from January to may 2025, the total trade volume between China and Peru was 19.149 billion US dollars, an increase of 30.7% year on year. China is Peru's largest trading partner.

Argentina's Buenos Aires economic news network recently reported that China is actively helping Latin America improve the level of logistics infrastructure. Citing the report of Latin American economic outlook 2025, the report listed the port of chacay in Peru, which was officially put into operation in 2024, as a typical success story. As one of China's largest investment projects in Latin America, qiankaigang is expected to bring about US $4.5 billion in economic benefits to Peru each year and create more than 8000 direct jobs.

According to the report, qiankaigang is committed to becoming a key logistics hub connecting South America and Asia. The completion of qiankaigang will significantly optimize logistics efficiency and provide convenience for China Peru economy and trade.

In recent years, new changes in China's consumer market have brought new opportunities to global trading partners. We have noted that Peru's characteristic products are well echoing the new trend of consumption in China, which has opened up a broad space for deepening economic and trade cooperation between the two countries.

In the Chinese market, we have observed several new consumption trends. The first is the rise of health consumption. Chinese consumers pay more and more attention to healthy diet, and their requirements for food quality are constantly improving. Thanks to this trend, Peru's agricultural products such as blueberries, avocado and quinoa are winning the favor of more and more Chinese consumers. Today, Peru avocado has been used to make popular yogurt drinks, and blueberries, grapes and other products are also directly available to Chinese consumers through platforms such as the Expo.

Secondly, the demand for convenience has increased significantly. With the acceleration of the pace of urban life, Chinese consumers, especially the younger generation, are pursuing cooking efficiency, which has led to the prosperity of the frozen food market. We have noticed that many young people do not have enough time for traditional cooking and choose high-quality frozen food instead. Therefore, while maintaining the supply of fresh fruits and vegetables, we are also actively promoting frozen fruits and vegetables and other products to enter the Chinese market.

The third is emotional consumption and the rise of "self pleasing economy". Nowadays, more and more consumers are willing to pay for emotional resonance and personality expression. The trend toy represented by labubu is one of the representatives. Peruvian Alpaca dolls have also entered the lives of many Chinese consumers with their warm and healing image, soft hairy touch, and strong Peruvian culture. At the 7th China International Fair last year and the 8th China International Fair this year, the alpaca dolls in the Peruvian booth attracted many visitors, and the doll booth became a hot spot on the scene. Inspired by China's local cultural and creative brands, we are also trying to develop more new products with both cultural connotation and emotional temperature.

The fourth is that the trend of high-quality and personalized is obvious. In the field of coffee, Chinese consumers began to pursue more distinctive local flavor. Peru's various specialty coffees are gradually recognized by Chinese coffee lovers with their unique flavor maps. It is particularly noteworthy that the demand for coffee in the sinking market is growing rapidly, which provides us with new market opportunities.

Under these new trends, China Peru economic and trade cooperation has made positive progress.

Thanks to the China Peru free trade agreement, bilateral trade has continued to expand. At present, many Peruvian products enjoy zero tariff treatment, and the degree of trade facilitation between the two sides continues to improve. In addition to the traditional blueberries, avocado and other products, in recent years, Bigen fruit and other new products have also successfully entered the Chinese market through quarantine certification.

In the field of logistics, the upgrading of logistics channels has also injected new impetus into the agricultural trade between the two countries. Located 80 kilometers north of Lima, the capital of Peru, qiankai port is a landmark project of the "belt and road" jointly built by China and Peru. It was officially opened in November 2024 and is an important hub connecting South America and Asia. In the past, Peruvian goods had to be transshipped through North American ports and then shipped to Asia by large ships, which was cumbersome and time-consuming. After the opening of the "qiankai Shanghai" direct route, the freight transportation time was significantly shortened, the voyage of fresh agricultural products from Peru to China was reduced from 35 days to 23 days, and the logistics cost was also reduced simultaneously. This change has greatly enhanced the competitiveness of fresh Peruvian products such as blueberries and avocado in the Chinese market.

What is more gratifying is that the economic and trade cooperation between China and Peru has benefited the people. Taking Alpaca dolls as an example, the industry maintains an annual growth rate of 20% -35%, creating considerable income and employment opportunities for local craftsmen in Peru, especially female craftsmen, and enabling the inheritance and renewal of this traditional skill. Nowadays, in Peru, more young people choose to stay in their hometown and follow their elders to learn this craft bearing culture and memory. At the same time, the mature experience of Chinese partners in brand building and market expansion also helps us to more accurately grasp the needs of Chinese consumers and better integrate Peruvian products into this dynamic market.

Looking forward to the future, we look forward to continuing to display Peru's high-quality and diverse products through important platforms such as China's China International Fair. We look forward to working with our Chinese partners to carry out more cooperation in agricultural technology, market development and other fields, realize complementary advantages, and jointly grasp the new opportunities brought by China's consumption upgrading.