Argentine President starts holding meetings in Shanghai

Tuesday, October 17th 2023 - 09:13 UTC

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Argentine President Alberto Fernández held meetings in Shanghai with businessmen and local authorities ahead of his participation at the Third Belt and Road Forum to which he was invited by Chinese leader Xi Jinping.

“Everything is going very well, we had meetings with many investors and we are very pleased,” Fernández told Télam before meeting Tibet Summit Resources CEO Huang Jianrong.

In addition to this mining company, Fernández also got together the previous day with representatives from CST Mining Group, ProwerChina, CEMEC, China Energy, Gezhouba Group, Huawei, and Tsingshan.

Most of the gatherings were held at the Jin Jiang Hotel, where Fernández is staying, except with the executives of Huawei and Tsingshan, who welcomed the Argentine delegation at their headquarters in Shanghai.

Tibet Summit is listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange and registered in the People's Republic of China for the development of mineral resources, it was also explained. Since the acquisition of Lithium X Energy Corp, in 2018, a Canadian firm, Tibet Summit, controls two Argentine companies: Potasio y Litio de Argentina S.A. (PLASA) and Tortuga de Oro S.A. (TOSA). Both subsidiaries are focused on investing in the development of lithium extraction projects being developed in the province of Salta.

Tibet Summit Resources even presented plans to invest US$ 2.2 billion in two lithium projects in Salta: US$ 700 million for the Salar de Diablillos project and US$ 1.5 billion to build a lithium processing plant in Salar Arizaro. The Chinese company plans to produce 50,000 tons of lithium carbonate suitable for batteries annually in Salar de Diablillos by the end of this year and to process between 50,000 and 100,000 tons in Salar Arizaro by 2024. Both initiatives may generate up to 10,000 jobs in both projects in Salta, the Argentine delegation stressed.

Fernández also met with Shanghai Mayor Gong Zheng to discuss tourism and the local population's interest in destinations such as Patagonia and cruises to Antarctica. They also discussed the participation of Argentine companies in the ”China International Import Expo (CIIE), of food and beverages, which will be held in Shanghai between November 5 and 10.

The Argentine leader is yet to meet with former Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff, who now heads the New Development Bank (NDB), also known as the BRICS Bank, ahead of Argentina's full accession to the bloc of emerging countries as of Jan. 1, 2024, together with Egypt, Ethiopia, Saudi Arabia, Iran and the United Arab Emirates, who will thus join Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. The full group would represent 36% of the world's GDP and 46% of the world's population.

After meeting with Rousseff, Fernández will travel to Beijing. He is expected to deliver a speech at the forum, while Argentina and China will also announce the extension of their monetary agreements.