China said Tuesday its free trade agreement (FTA) with Peru would be signed and implemented soon after their FTA talks concluded last November.

"Both sides are going through some legal processes in a bid to sign and carry out the FTA at an early date," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu told a regular news conference.

Chinese President Hu Jintao and his Peruvian counterpart Alan Garcia announced the conclusion of bilateral FTA talks last November when Hu paid a visit to the Latin American country.

Jiang said the China-Peru agreement was the first FTA package China signed with a Latin American country. "It covers a wide range of fields and features high-degree openness.

"The signing of the China-Peru FTA will play a positive role in helping both countries respond to the international financial crisis and promote the steady growth of their economy," she said.

(Xinhua News Agency April 14, 2009)