China, Brazil, Peru agree on feasibility study on transcontinental railway: Chinese premier

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang(L) shakes hands with Peruvian President Ollanta Humala during a press conference held after their talks in Lima, capital of Peru, May 22, 2015. (Xinhua/Pang Xinglei)

LIMA, May 22 (Xinhua) -- China, Brazil and Peru have decided to conduct a feasibility study on a proposed transcontinental railway line connecting Peru's Pacific coast with Brazil's Atlantic coast, visiting Chinese Premier Li Keqiang said here on Friday.

The three countries have also agreed to speed up the work of their joint working group for an early, substantial progress in the project, so as to drive the economic development along the railway and accelerate industrialization and urbanization in South America under the condition of environmental protection and biological diversity, Li told reporters after talks with Peruvian President Ollanta Humala.

Li said that during his ongoing visit to Latin America, he and leaders of Brazil, Colombia and Peru agreed to build new highlights in pragmatic cooperation in such fields as trade investment, industrial capacity cooperation, equipment manufacturing, and infrastructure construction.

The premier pointed out that China has accumulated a great deal of experience in railway construction, saying Chinese-made equipment has enjoyed advantages of high safety and cost performance ratios and has stood the test of international market competitions.

The Chinese side is willing to actively take part in building the transcontinental railway line and rail transit projects in relevant countries, strengthen technology transfer while conducting cooperation in equipment and other areas, boost interconnection in South America, promote regional economic development, and better realize mutually-beneficial and win-win results, he said.

Humala said the two countries' free trade agreement and comprehensive strategic partnership fully indicate that Peru-China relations have developed smoothly with broad prospects.

He described Li's visit to Peru as a great event in the history of development of Peru-China relations, saying the Peruvian side is willing to keep expanding cooperation with China.

The president voiced his appreciation for a series of proposals raised by China on supporting Peru's industrialization, noting that China is welcome to add investment in the South American country in such areas as mining and agriculture.

The two sides signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on the feasibility study on the transcontinental railway line, which has consolidated and lifted the Peru-China friendly relationship of cooperation to higher levels, he said.

The MoU will help Peru realize better development and boost common development and prosperity of Peru, Brazil, China and the region, Humala said.

Peru is the third leg of Li's four-nation tour to Latin America after Brazil and Colombia. He will also visit Chile.