A free trade agreement between Peru and China, negotiated and announced last November during the APEC meeting in Lima, was officially signed today in Beijing. The agreement covers goods and services, as well as avenues for resolving trade disputes. China is Peru’s second-largest trading partner; in 2008, bilateral trade amounted to US$7.8 billion, up 41% from the previous year.

Chinese-manufactured goods are evident nearly everywhere here in Lima, from automobiles and appliances to clothing and kitchen utensils. Peruvian exports to China are by-and-large minerals like copper and iron ore. That fact hasn’t stopped Peru from dreams of diversifying. The FTA allows Peru to export US$805 million “non-traditional products” to China.

These products include frozen fish, pota, dried and frozen seaweed, cotton t-shirts, lumber, medicines, mangoes, mandarins, fresh bananas, sweet cookies, zinc alloys, beauty products and orthoboric acid, among other products.

It’s hard to look at that list and imagine anything other than minerals being the backbone of this trade relationship for a very, very long time.