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.

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.

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