Lima - Peru's exports may rise to a record this year after China overtook the United States to become the South American country's top destination for sales abroad.
Chinese demand will help boost Peru's exports 17 percent to $31.6 billion after last year's 15 percent decline, Juan Carlos Mathews, export director at the government's trade promotion agency Promperu, said in Lima on Wednesday. Exports may rise 9 percent next year, he said.
China overtook the US as Peru's top export destination for the first month on record in July, aided by a free-trade agreement signed in 2009, Mathews said. China accounted for 17 percent of Peru's exports according to preliminary data for July, compared with 16.8 percent for the US, as the world's second-largest economy increased purchases of fruit, fresh fish and wood products, Mathews said.
China moves up global ladder> 
