A corner of COSCO SHIPPING booth at the CIIE held in Shanghai on November 8, 2026 Photo: Tu Lei/Global Times

At the 9th China International Import Expo (CIIE) in Shanghai, five Peruvian entrepreneurs turned heads with their distinctive attire. Some donned traditional Peruvian indigenous garments, while others sported straw hats.

Yet it was not their outfits that drew attention, but the array of handmade goods laid out beside them: blueberry jam, alpaca handicrafts, fish-shaped woven bags and more.

These entrepreneurs emerged victorious from the "From Chancay to Shanghai" exporter contest in Peru, beating 106 fellow participants. They brought their handmade creations to the CIIE to tap into the Chinese market, as direct beneficiaries of the opening of the Chancay Port.

The port serves as an efficient maritime artery connecting Latin America and China, unlocking the Chinese market for Peruvian entrepreneurs and enabling local businesses to explore new trade and industrial cooperation prospects.

Tremendous opportunities

Ruth Ada Gartner Talledo, wearing her chef's uniform, is one of the five winners. She developed a special blueberry jam exclusively for the competition and brought it to the CIIE.

Thanks to the Chancay-Shanghai shipping link, the product can reach this vast market in a shorter time, Talledo told the Global Times, noting that the Chinese market holds tremendous opportunities and the opening of the Chancay Port has given a strong boost to local handicrafts and related sectors, creating numerous jobs. 

Santusa Ansia Mamani Vilca shares the same excitement about the Chinese market. Clad in a traditional large green lliclla, Vilca, another of the five winners, brought handwoven alpaca figurines made from hypoallergenic wool, adorned with intricate details and vibrant embellishments.

Vilca told the Global Times that she entered the contest because she hopes to bring her products overseas to share her indigenous culture, while also helping support the local economy.

She has woven handicrafts for more than 40 years. Beyond raising household incomes, the craft empowers local women - including elderly women and young women with limited formal education - by providing them with livelihoods. It helps them improve their quality of life and gain self-sufficiency, she said.

Chancay Port, a deep-water hub and South America's first smart green port, is a flagship Belt and Road cooperation project between China and Peru. 

The shipping corridor became fully operational in both directions when the first container vessel from Chancay Port arrived at Shanghai's Yangshan Port on December 18, 2024, following the official opening of Chancay Port on November 14 of the same year. The route cut sea transit time between China and Peru from 35-40 days to just 23 days, reducing logistics costs by more than 20 percent.

"Standing here today for the second anniversary of the inauguration of COSCO SHIPPING Chancay Port, we see our 23-day direct shipping service turn geographical distance into close connectivity. Over the past two years, Chancay Port's connectivity has kept delivering benefits to traders of all sizes," Li Wei, executive vice president of COSCO SHIPPING, told the Global Times.

Expanding trade

China's logistics ties with Latin America are stretching beyond conventional container trade, with the Port of Chancay enabling a wider spectrum of cargo and supply-chain goods - laying the foundation for expanding trade.

On September 15, a maiden voyage ceremony for the direct shipping route between Shanghai and Chancay Port took place at Yangshan Terminal. The first shipment, a 20-foot container carrying cross-border e-commerce parcels and consolidated postal mail, marked China Post Group Shanghai Branch's launch of a new direct maritime corridor to South America, according to China Post.

The new service delivers maritime transit time of roughly 28 days. Compared with traditional routes through third countries, the service cuts delivery lead times by over 20 days and brings marked reductions in transportation costs.

This maritime postal route is better suited for daily necessities and consumer goods. Boasting a notable cost advantage, it caters well to cross-border trade in mass consumer products, and it can also develop solutions for cargo shipments from Peru to China in the future, Chen Xin, general manager of the international business branch of China Post Group Shanghai Branch, told the Global Times.

The China-Peru story is still unfolding. Beyond the bustling cargo flows and entrepreneurial opportunities unlocked by the Chancay Port, bilateral economic ties are getting another boost.

The protocol upgrading the China-Peru free trade agreement (FTA) took effect on November 1, according to China's Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM). China and Peru launched negotiations on the upgrade in November 2018 and signed the protocol on November 14, 2024. The original FTA was signed in 2009 and took effect in 2010.

The protocol improves seven existing chapters of the original FTA, covering rules of origin, customs procedures and trade facilitation, sanitary and phytosanitary measures, intellectual property rights, trade in services, temporary entry of business personnel, and investment, MOFCOM said in an online statement.

"Now that our bilateral FTA has been upgraded, I believe our two sides will see stronger cooperation ahead," Wang Bin, general manager of COSCO SHIPPING Ports Chancay Peru, told the Global Times.

Previously, small importers and artisans had no way to break into the Chinese market. As individual vendors, they could not bring their goods to China on their own. But container shipping changes this - whether via full-container loads or less-than-container-load consolidation, they can ship small batches, according to Wang. 

"Even tiny consignments now stand a chance to be showcased to Chinese buyers," Wang said.