MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Argentine and China reaffirm close trade and political links

Minister Wang Yi with President Cristina Fernadez at the Casa Rosada

Argentine President Cristina Fernández received on Wednesday China’s Foreign Ministry Wang Yi and signed several trade agreements, including aerospace infrastructure at the Government House, Buenos Aires City. During the meeting, the president was accompanied by Cabinet Chief Jorge Capitanich, Economy Minister Axel Kicillof, Federal Planning Minister Carlos Julio De Vido and Foreign Minister Héctor Timerman, with whom Wang Yi had a previous meeting.

 Earlier in the day Wang Yi visited his peer Hector Timerman at the San Martin palace, and the official confirmed the President of the Popular Republic of China, Xi Jinping, will be visiting Argentina during a tour of Latin America, scheduled for July.

“We are working to make the visit a success”, said Timerman during a press conference alongside Wang Yi. “The visit will take our strategic relationship to a higher level”, added the Chinese minister.

Wang Yi is on a tour of several Latin-American countries ahead of the July visit of President Xi Jinping who will be attending the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) summit in Fortaleza, Brazil.

The tour started in Cuba, continued in Venezuela, Argentina and Brazil next stop.

In a brief statement the two ministers said "both countries are trying to translate the high level of bilateral political relations into effective results in economic development issues".

China is particularly interested in close links with Latin America to satisfy its demand for commodities, food, minerals and energy. China is Cuba's second trade partner after Venezuela, and there is an interest in the island's new policy to attract foreign investments. China is Venezuela's main foreign investor.

Likewise with Argentina, China is the most important trade partner behind Brazil with an annual trade of 14.5bn dollars, with a strong surplus for Beijing.

Last February China's grains giant Cofco purchased 51% of Nidera paying 1.2bn dollars. Nidera is a global major trader of grains and oilseeds. Since Brazil and Argentina are global traders of soybeans and other grains, China's growing involvement in Latin America should not come as a surprise.

On the day Wang Yi met with the Argentine president, Cristina Fernandez had in her agenda scheduled the inauguration of new Chinese manufactured trains which will link downtown Buenos Aires with the periphery of the city. Argentina is renewing much of its locomotives and coaches and has been operating with a 200 million dollars credit from Chinese banks.

Strictly on political terms, Argentina ratified its support to the Beijing regime of "one only China", regarding the claim over Taiwan, and Wang Yi did something similar regarding Argentina's sovereignty claim over the Falklands/Malvinas Islands.