Events

Beijing and Argentina Pledge to Promote Economic and Trade Cooperation — Beijing-Argentina Economic and Trade Cooperation Promotion Fair successfully held

2023-6-9 10:56:07

The Beijing-Argentina Economic and Trade Cooperation Promotion Fair was successfully held on June 6th in Buenos Aires, capital of Argentina. The fair was co-sponsored by the CCPIT Beijing and the Argentina Strategic Dialogue Foundation, with support from the Argentine-Chinese Chamber of Production, Industry, and Commerce and the ICBC Argentina.

Liu Wei, Deputy Secretary of the CPC Beijing Municipal Committee and President of Beijing People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries attended the event, alongside Matias Tombolini, Secretary of Commerce from the Ministry of Economy of Argentina; Rodrigo Bravo, Chairman of the Argentina Strategic Dialogue Foundation; Zou Xiaoli, Chinese ambassador to Argentina. They all delivered speeches at the conference, which was presided over by Guo Huaigang, Chairman of CCPIT Beijing.

During his speech, Liu Wei highlighted the long-standing friendly relations between China and Argentina. Since Chinese President Xi Jinping’s state visit to Argentina in December 2018, the two countries have been working together to establish a comprehensive strategic partnership in the new era. In early 2022, Argentina officially joined the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), a sign that China and Argentina embarked on a new journey to build it together. Recent years have witnessed the steady growth in economic and trade cooperation between Beijing and Argentina. Argentine companies and businesspeople are welcomed to invest in Beijing and to deepen cooperation with Beijing enterprises in various fields so that both sides can share development opportunities and achieve win-win results.

While, in his statement, Tombolini mentioned that Argentina is taking steps to improve its foreign exchange reserves, increase economic freedom, and maintain the scale of import trade. He expressed gratitude towards China for its efforts in promoting the cross-border settlement in CNY, which is conducive to consolidating the momentum of trade development between Argentina and China and safeguarding the common interests of enterprises in both countries. By doing so, it helps facilitate further cooperation between the two countries in the areas of cultural tourism, transportation, and renewable energy.

Ambassador Zou Xiaoli said that fruitful results have been achieved in China and Argentina’s cooperation relating to the BRI over the past year. The two countries have successfully established several landmark cooperation projects in various fields, including infrastructure, agriculture, mining, clean energy, telecommunications, finance, and aerospace. The bilateral trade volume between China and Argentina has been on the rise, and since May of this year, all Argentine imports from China have been settled in CNY. It is expected that further progress will be made to benefit both countries in the future.

The fair was comprised of five main parts, namely, guest speeches, special promotional sessions, project signings, enterprise promotions, and enterprise negotiations. Over 280 delegates attended this event; they were enterprise leaders and representatives from trade and investment promotion institutions, business associations of key industries, as well as Chinese and Argentine media and think tanks, including the Argentina Investment and Trade Promotion Agency, Argentine Chamber of Commerce and Services, Asia-Pacific Chamber of Commerce, Argentina-China Council, Argentine Chamber of Mining Enterprises (CAME), Tourism sector of CAME, Industrial Organization of Argentina (UIA), Argentina Young Entrepreneurs Alliance, Beijing Tourism Group, Beijing Capital Agribusiness & Foods Group, BAIC Group, Bank of China, etc.

During this event, the two sides shared insights on the upcoming 16th China-LAC Business Summit, the business environment of Beijing Financial Street, and foreign investment opportunities in Argentina. Additionally, enterprises from Beijing’s cultural tourism, agri-food, information technology, consulting services, and other sectors signed seven cooperation agreements and contracts with their Argentine counterparts. Going forward, Beijing and Argentina plan to collaborate in key areas, such as tourism services, beef import and export, scientific and technological innovation, think tank construction, cultural exchanges, and economic and trade information sharing. Following the promotional conference, enterprises from both sides engaged in free exchanges and project negotiations.