President Xi to meet Argentine President to secure political, economic ties

President Xi to meet Argentine President to secure political, economic ties

CCTV.com
02-04-2015 03:49 BJT

Full coverage: China’s Leaders

Argentine President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner is in Beijing for a state visit this week. He will meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping to look for ways to promoten the bilateral trade -- at a time when trade between their countries is already at an all-time high.
Never have Beijing and Buenos Aires been so close. On Wednesday Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner and Xi Jinping will meet for the second time in the space of seven months, cementing political and economic ties between China and Argentina.
China recently delivered the initial funding to build a pair of dams in the south of Argentina- part of a massive hydroelectric project that will cost more than four and a half billion dollars in all.
And the national oil firms, China's Sinopec and Argentina's YPF, reached an agreement to jointly explore Argentina's vast shale oil deposits.
But it is not just investment in the energy sector that both China and Argentina are interested in. According the Argentina Chamber of Commerce, trade between the two reached a record high in 2014 , and a committee of business leaders has accompanied the Argentine president on this visit.

Many sectors see this as an opportunity to further trade ties between the two countries, and aim to return home with more signed contracts.
"We have just one export agreement signed with China, for frozen boneless meat. Other countries like Uruguay, which has the same health status as Argentina have five," says Mario Ravettino, vice president of Argentine Beef Promotion Institute.
Analysts say the relationship benefits both countries, but some point to the imbalance in trade as a cause for concern in Argentina.
"There is a lot of criticism, particularly in sectors such as production, especially industrial production, who feel the growing commerce with China will create a large budget deficit," says Julio Gambbina, an economist.
At a time when China is investing heavily in Argentina infrastructure, and China has come to Argentina's aid with a multibillion dollar currency swap to stabilize the peso, the relationship between the two countries is only expected to deepen - for the foreseeable future.