Peru's Ministry of Foreign Trade and Tourism will launch a nationwide campaign in January 2010 to publicize the benefits of a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with China, a Peruvian expert on bilateral ties said Monday.

"We will employ the dissemination strategy at all levels in order to achieve a comprehensive understanding of the enormous opportunities available in the business market of China," said Carlos Posada, Peruvian director-general of the ministry's Asia-Oceania Bilateral Affairs, stressing that media will be an important propaganda platform.

He said that regional governments, local chambers of commerce, unions, small and medium enterprises (SMEs), universities and civil society as a whole will take part in the campaign.

Peru is one of China's major trading partners in Latin America.

A series of presentations nationwide over the agreement which includes conversations with producers and exporters of Peru is also scheduled, said Posada.

This was also done in the case of the North American Free Trade Agreement with the United States in order to clear doubts about the trade agreement, he explained.

The Sino-Peruvian FTA, signed in Beijing in April of this year, is now undergoing a legal review by the Peruvian Foreign Ministry to determine whether a legislative ratification by the Congress of Peru is required, or whether it only needs a supreme decree by the executive authority.

If a ratification is not necessary, the FTA would come into force immediately, otherwise its implementation might be postponed until next March.