LIMA, Nov 13 (Reuters) - Peru and China have overcome differences over a free-trade pact and next week will likely announce they have reached agreement, the Andean country's trade minister said on Thursday.
It would be the third accord Peru has forged with a major economy as part of an aggressive push by President Alan Garcia to open markets for the country's minerals, textiles and specialty agricultural products like asparagus and mangos.
Peru signed a trade pact with the United States last year that will take effect in January. A deal with Canada is awaiting legislative approvals.
China, hungry for natural resources in Latin America, is the largest buyer of Peruvian products after the United States, and officials say a trade pact with China could boost Peru's rate of economic growth by 1 percentage point a year.
"We have arrived at a point of adequate balance and I think the official announcement will be next week," Peruvian Trade Minister Mercedes Araoz told reporters.
She said the pact would be announced when heads of state meet in Lima next week for a meeting of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation forum.
"I think we've got an agreement on market access, and the only think we have to finish is about investments, which will be easy," Araoz said.
Peru's economy, the fastest growing in Latin America, has been expanding for seven years, most recently at a 9 percent annual clip. Chinese companies have announced $6 billion in mining development projects in Peru over the next three years.
After a deal with China, Peru, one of the world's largest producers of minerals, hopes to ink trade agreements with South Korea, Japan, Australia and the European Union. (Reporting by Maria Luisa Palomino)