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,

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.

The new megaport is 992 hectares in size and creates a direct link between Shanghai and Peru and will cut shipment times down by 20 days on some routes.

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

The port has the potential to “transform trade” by turning Peru into a shipping hub thanks to Chinese investment.

A remote fishing town on the edge of Peru’s coastal desert is the site for a $1.3 billion megaport majority-owned by the Chinese shipping giant Cosco.

Peru is inaugurating a huge commercial port built by China, which is expected to become a game changer in the region. Also, a new study finds that private aviation is booming, with flights often clustered around big international events — including climate summits.

Chinese President Xi Jinping is set to inaugurate a mega port on the Peruvian coast, a project expected to speed up trade between South America and Asia-Pacific.