On the blue waves of the Pacific, an emerging trade artery is pulsating strongly. Since the two-way connection on December 18, 2024, the Qian Kai Shanghai shipping route has delivered an impressive report on its upcoming anniversary: the import and export value has exceeded 5 billion yuan, reaching 5.35 billion yuan, and the freight volume has reached 197000 tons. The opening of this route is not only a landmark achievement of the joint construction of the the Belt and Road between China and Peru, but also an ancient Indo Canadian road of a new era connecting China and the entire Latin American region, promoting the two-way travel across the Pacific into the fast lane.

Changes in timeliness and cost, reshaping the trade landscape

The core value of this route is first reflected in the revolutionary compression of time and cost. In the past, the sea freight journey between China and Peru took 35 to 40 days, and goods often needed to be transshipped. Nowadays, direct flights have shortened the time to 23 days and saved logistics costs by over 20%. For high time sensitive agricultural products such as Peruvian avocados, blueberries, grapes, etc., this saved ten days is crucial, meaning fresher quality and higher market value. To this end, Shanghai Customs has tailored a green channel for customs clearance, ensuring efficient customs clearance of goods through a full process supervision service model, and allowing delicious food from across the Pacific to be served on Chinese consumers' tables faster.

A two-way trade flow that reflects complementary win-win outcomes

The vitality of the route is intuitively reflected in the soaring trade data. As a direct result, Shanghai's foreign trade import and export value to Peru increased significantly by 47.1% year-on-year in the first 10 months of 2025. The trade structure clearly reflects complementarity: on the one hand, Peruvian agricultural products are accelerating their entry into the Chinese market; On the other hand, Chinese manufacturing represented by Chinese cars is also heavily transported to Peru through this new route. Since the first batch of over 1300 domestic cars departed from Shanghai Nangang in July 2024, as of the end of November, 5948 domestic cars have been sent to Qiankai Port. This route not only serves Shanghai, but also radiates to major ports in China such as Ningbo, Qingdao, Dalian, and Xiamen through fixed weekly schedules, gathering a wider range of Chinese manufacturing forces.

Beyond the strategic pivot of ports, activate regional development

The significance of the Qian Kai Shanghai route goes far beyond just a sea passage. On one end is Shanghai Port, which serves as a global trade hub; On the other end, there is the Qiankai Port in Peru, which is invested, constructed and operated by COSCO Shipping Group. Qiankai Port is a natural deep-water port that can accommodate ultra large container ships in the first phase of the project, and is connected to the Pan American Highway that runs through the Americas through a tunnel, becoming a strategic pivot backed by Latin America and facing the Asia Pacific region. Peru hopes that Qiankai Port can become Shanghai across the Pacific, driving regional logistics, trade, and even overall economic development. As analyzed, Qian Kai Port will improve the regional trade model and enhance the connectivity of the entire South American common market. This route is a vivid practice of using channels to connect logistics, logistics to connect economy and trade, and economy and trade to connect industries, empowering the common development of Pacific coastal economies. Keywords: the Belt and Road project news, the Belt and Road news

From shortened journeys to increased data, from blueberries in Peru to cars in China, the Qian Kai Shanghai route has outlined a clear trajectory of prosperity in less than a year. It is not only a channel for the exchange of goods, but also a bridge for friendship and cooperation, carrying the common expectation of China Peru and China Latin America to work together for development, heading towards a broader and brighter future.Editor/Cheng Liting