By Eduardo Baptista, Marco Aquino, Lucinda Elliott 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 focal point of his visit will be the virtual inauguration of the South American country’s US$3.5 billion port funded by Beijing

Chinese President Xi Jinping and Peruvian counterpart Dina Boluarte inaugurated a $1.3 billion port that could transform South American trade with Asia just as Beijing prepares for a potential trade war with the US.

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

Chinese President Xi Jinping will arrive in Lima on Thursday, kicking off a week-long diplomatic blitz in Latin America by inaugurating the massive Chancay deep-water port, one of Beijing's most ambitious infrastructure investments in Latin America.

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