MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Waiting for Hu Jintao.

Argentina is preparing for Chinese president Hu Jintao visit next Tuesday when he will be received with full honours and expectations given the growing importance of the Asian giant economy's avid demand for commodities.

Mr. Hu Jintao will be arriving from Brazil where he spent five days, signed several trade agreements and promised significant infrastructure investments. After Argentina he will travel to Chile for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation presidential summit to be held November 20/21 in Chile.

Argentine expectations are based in China's long term strategy to ensure a supply of commodities for its booming economy that is expected to grow 7% annually until 2020, multiplying its GDP by four with per capita income jumping to 3,000 US dollars from the current 1.090 US dollars.

The importance of China was highlighted by Enrique Mansilla president of the Argentine Chamber of Exporters. "China's 2003 grain crop was 70 million tons below that of 1998. The 70 million tons shortfall is equivalent to a record breaking crop for Argentina", said Mr. Mansilla.

The Southern Cone countries, --abundant suppliers of commodities plus oil--, and China's economies in that sense complement each other and according to the Argentine press, President Kirchner is anxious to reach a full agreement following the steps of Brazil's experience.

President Hu Jintao in Brazil promised significant investments in infrastructure, sharing rocket technology and signed an agreement to double bilateral trade in three years from 10 to 20 billion US dollars.

Just two weeks ago the Argentine government's anxiety about Chinese investment forecasted a grand plan of projects totalling 20 billion US dollars in exchange for a long term agreement to supply grains. However Chinese officials repeatedly discarded the sum and terms involved in the anticipated Buenos Aires announcement and went even further saying that Argentina "lacked a proper and effective country marketing policy". The Kirchner administration then blamed the Argentine press for extravagantly floating Chinese wish cookies.

Therefore, much will depend on what happens beginning next Tuesday, and President Hu Jintao is no soft cookie has proved to be an effective member of the Chinese Communist Party: he presided over the Communist Youth; as envoy to Tibet he ruthlessly repressed secession attempts and later accelerated economic reform and growth while maintaining the tight political control of the party over 1,3 billion citizens.