China is ready to work with Peru to build a new land-sea corridor between China and Latin America with the Chancay Port as a starting point, Xi said.

The port opening in Chancay underscores China’s growing clout in a region that once looked primarily to the United States for economic opportunity.

Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday inaugurated Latin America's first Beijing-funded port in Chancay, Peru -- a symbol of the Asian superpower's growing influence on the continent as it prepares to face off with a new Donald Trump administration.