Peru, China complete FTA negotiations

Peru and China have completed negotiations on a free trade agreement (FTA) and will sign an accord at "top speed", Bloomberg reported, citing Peru’s President Alan Garcia. Garcia made the comments after meeting with Chinese President Hu Jintao, who arrived in Lima for a meeting of the 21-member Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation. Trade between Peru and China totaled US$5.5 billion last year, mostly in minerals and fishmeal. Garcia said trade between the two countries was "growing substantially" and would surpass the goal of US$20 billion by 2015. China Minmetals Corp and Jiangxi Copper also signed a letter of intent with China Development Bank and Peru’s Banco de Credito to finance the Galeno copper project, Peru’s fourth largest copper deposit.