Peruvian President, Pedro Pablo Kuczynski, has begun a five-day visit to China. President Xi Jinping met him in Beijing on Tuesday.

CCTV’s Hou Na reports.

This is Kuczynski’s first foreign trip since taking office in July, lifting the China-Peru bilateral relations to a new level.

President Xi Jinping welcomed him to the country, and urged for cooperation in modern agriculture, new energy, green economy, as well as in the traditional sectors of mining, energy and infrastructure.

Peru is China’s second largest investment destination in Latin America. It has attracted more than $14 billion worth of direct investment for the world’s second largest economy.

Carol Wise on China-Peru economic ties

For more on the future of China-Peru ties and the Peruvian president’s visit, CCTV America’s Rachelle Akuffo interviewed Carol Wise, associate professor of international relations at University of Southern California.

Peru’s President Kuczynski on the importance of trading with China

President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski, wants Peru to be a member of the OECD group of leading economies, by 2021. Kuczynski won June’s election with a pledge to modernize Peru and advance its economy. He thinks Chinese investment is the key.

China is Peru’s largest trading partner. It owns two Peruvian copper mines. And Kuczynski wants his country to become a refining hub for that, and other metals exported across the world. But the global commodity price drop contributed to Peru’s growth HALVING between 2013 and 2014. It’s expected to climb back to around 4 percent in the next couple of years.

President Kuczynski spoke to CCTV’s Dan Collyns, and explained why he wanted China as such an important trading partner.