The free trade agreement between Peru and China will come into force next week rather than 1 February as planned.

Preparations have run so smoothly that the introduction has been brought forward to 15 January, Peruvian Foreign Trade Minister Martín Pérez announced.

The deal was struck last April during a visit to China by Peruvian Vice-President Luis Giampietri. Even without the treaty, China was Peru’s largest trading partner after the United States last year. Peru’s chief exports to China are minerals, in particular copper, iron ore and zinc, and in return it imports Chinese electronic goods.
 

Mine in La Oroya, Peru (flickr / Matthew Burpee)