LIMA - Among visitors from the 21 member economies of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum, the Chinese visitors rank the first in doing business and investing in Peru.

According to figures released on Monday by Peru's immigration agency (SNMN), just over 71,000 international visitors from APEC member economies traveled to Peru in the past five years.

Of those, 67,713 traveled on business and 3,732 came for investment, with the great majority coming from China.

From 2011 to 2015, 21,456 Chinese business people visited Peru. Chile ranked second, with 17,840, followed by the United States, with 12,413 and Mexico, with 8,525.

China also leads in the investment field, with 1,240 Chinese investors coming to Peru, closely followed by Chile (1,200) and the US (666).

Starting Monday, Peru's capital Lima is playing host to the 24th Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Leaders' Week.

The gathering aims to promote the creation of a free-trade zone in the region.