MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Argentine President has busy agenda in China

Fernández met with Xi Jinping in Beijing

Argentine President Alberto Fernández met with the head of the New Development Bank (NDB), Dilma Rousseff, to advance the South American country's accession to the BRICS financial institution.

Fernández's entourage included Argentina's Ambassador to China, Sabino Vaca Narvaja; head of the Central Bank of Argentina (BCRA), Miguel Pesce; Deputy Foreign Minister Cecilia Todesca; and Secretary General of the Presidency, Julio Vitobello.

Also attending the meeting were NDB Vice President Vladimir Kazbekov, Chief Operating Officer Qingwu Zhou, and Rousseff's advisor Marco Tulio Mendoca, among others. The NDB was established by the BRICS in 2015 to provide a financing alternative to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank. Former Brazilian President Rousseff took over as head of the institution last March after Luiz Inácio Lula Da Silva came to power, replacing Marcos Prado Troyjo, who was appointed by Jair Bolsonaro.

Later Tuesday, Fernández traveled to Beijing to attend the opening ceremony of the III Forum of the Belt and Road, an event that brought together leaders from 80 countries to discuss China's role in the international arena, along with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian leader Vladimir Putin.

The initiative is an economic project based on the ancient Silk Road (which functioned as a trade route in the splendor of Imperial China) that seeks to strengthen its ties through two major corridors: a land corridor (The Belt) to connect China with Europe; and a maritime corridor (The Road) to connect Africa and Latin America. Last year, Argentina joined the Belt and Road and received more than US$23 billion in financing deals in return.

The businessmen at the meeting spoke to Fernández about their concerns regarding the outcome of next Sunday's elections and whether whoever wins will remain interested in participating in both the Belt and Road and the BRICS, of which Argentina will become a full member on January 1.

Libertarian Congressman Javier Milei said he had no intention of maintaining trade relations with China and Brazil (Argentina's two main trading partners) for “ideological” reasons. Patricia Bullrich of Juntos por el Cambio has already announced her opposition to joining the BRICS. In other words, all these negotiations that Fernández has undertaken would only be implemented if Sergio Massa wins.