LIMA (Reuters) -Chinese President Xi Jinping launched a week-long diplomatic blitz of South America on Thursday by inaugurating a massive deep-water port in Peru, a $1.3 billion investment by Beijing as it seeks to expand trade and influence on the continent.

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

China’s President Xi Jinping joins host and counterpart Dina Boluarte to inaugurate Chancay Port in Latin American nation of Peru - Anadolu Ajansı