Peru eases Chinese port dispute ahead of president's meeting with Xi

COSCO SHIPPING Ports

26/06/2024 02:02

LIMA, June 25 (Reuters) - Peru asked a judge to withdraw
its request to strip a Chinese state-owned company's exclusive
rights to operate a "megaport" it is building on Peru's Pacific
coast, sources said on Tuesday, cooling tensions before the
countries' leaders meet this week.
    The government had requested in March the annulment of its
decision to give Hong Kong-based Cosco Shipping Ports  1199.HK 
exclusive rights to operate the deepwater Chancay Port Terminal
it is building, citing an "administrative error."
    A source close to Peru's port authority told Reuters a
transportation ministry prosecutor "formally requested" the
withdrawal of its original request on Monday. 
    The announcement, days before Peruvian President Dina
Boluarte is set to meet with Cosco executives and Chinese
President Xi Jinping during a China visit, appears to resolve a
legal dispute between the company and Boluarte's government that
had sparked fears of an international arbitration process.
    Last week, Peru's port authority authorized the prosecutor
to make the request, another industry source told Reuters, after
Congress approved changes to Peru's ports law that paved the way
to ensure Cosco Shipping would have exclusive rights to operate
the terminal it is constructing. 
    Representatives of the Chinese firm in Peru declined to
comment on the Peruvian government's decision.
    Peruvian authorities hope the $3.5 billion Chancay megaport
will become a hub in the South American Pacific, but the project
has upset players in the United States and Europe seeking to
stop a rise of Chinese influence in Latin America.
    Cosco Shipping expects to inaugurate the Chancay megaport in
November, when the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC)
leaders' summit is scheduled to be held in Lima.

 (Reporting by Marco Aquino; Editing by Lincoln Feast.)
 ((Brendan.OBoyle@thomsonreuters.com;))