Argentina’s foreign minister pledges unchanged ‘China-friendly’ policy during visit aimed at steadying strained ties

Diana Mondino’s delegation was the first official visit to China since the country’s Western-leaning government took office last year.
Foreign Minister Wang Yi urges ‘deeper cooperation’ amid reports of US concerns over Chinese deep space telescope operating in Argentina

Belt and Road Initiative

Alyssa Chen

Published: 7:30pm, 1 May 2024

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Argentina’s China-friendly policy remains unchanged no matter how its internal situation evolves, the country’s foreign minister said on Tuesday in Beijing, as the South American country moves to stabilise strained bilateral ties following President Javier Milei’s election win in December.

“No matter how Argentina’s internal political situation changes, its friendly policy toward China will not change,” Diana Mondino told Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, according to a foreign ministry statement.

She said Argentina would continue to cooperate on various projects under the Belt and Road Initiative, including infrastructure construction, trade, investment, tourism, space, ocean and environmental protection.

Mondino, whose four-day visit to China finished on Wednesday, was accompanied by senior financial officials, including Central Bank President Santiago Bausili and Secretary of Finance Pablo Quirino, as well as a large business delegation of Argentine exporters.

It was Mondino’s first visit to China since she took office in December.

Wang hailed the China-Argentina comprehensive strategic partnership and called for deeper cultural exchanges at local levels, adding that Beijing would like to be Argentina’s “long-term and reliable cooperation partner”.

“China stands ready to work with Argentina to strengthen communication, deepen mutual trust … and infuse more certainty into the development of bilateral relations and cooperation in various fields, and make China-Argentina relations more mature and resilient,” Wang said.

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He said both sides should continue “high-quality construction of the belt and road”, while urging deeper cooperation on trade, finance, polar research and space under the initiative.

Both countries “should continue to cherish and solidify political mutual trust”, Wang said, adding that they should also stay committed to understanding and supporting each other on issues related to their “core interests and major concerns”.

Wang’s remarks followed earlier reports in Argentina about a Chinese deep space ground station located in Neuquen province. US military and intelligence officials have expressed concerns about the high-security compound, which houses a powerful 16-story antenna capable of peering 300,000km (186,000 miles) above Earth.

The Milei administration planned to look into activity at the restricted base, and ensure the original agreement for the facility was being followed, according to a report by Noticias Argentinas, citing a high-level government source.

During last year’s presidential election campaign, Milei had been sharply critical of China, threatening to curb ties and calling Beijing an “assassin”. Since coming into office, his administration has strongly pivoted towards Washington and the West, including a formal request in April to join Nato as a “global partner”.

After being invited in 2023 to join the Brics group of major emerging economies – Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa – Buenos Aires pulled out soon after Milei was sworn in.

Milei’s strategy stands in stark contrast to his predecessor Alberto Fernandez, who praised China as Argentina’s “true friend” during a visit to Beijing last October.

Buenos Aires formally joined Beijing’s belt and road strategy in 2022, which enabled Chinese funding for construction of hydropower stations, wind farms and photovoltaic parks, as well as collaborations in transport infrastructure, agriculture and manufacturing industry.

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With at least US$17 billion in funding from Chinese state-owned banks between 2005 and 2022, Argentina has been one of the biggest recipients of Chinese investment and loans in Latin America, according to a data set compiled by the Inter-American Dialogue and the Boston University Global Development Policy Centre.

The two countries also have an US$18 billion currency swap, due to expire in June. Mondino’s visit is seen as part of the efforts looking to renew this currency swap to boost Argentina’s dwindling foreign reserves.

Last year, China was the third top destination for Argentina’s exports, totalling US$5.2 billion and representing nearly 8 per cent of Argentina’s total exports. China is also Argentina’s second-largest trading partner after Brazil and the main recipient of its beef and soybean exports.

Argentina needed to create substantial opportunities to increase and diversify its export supplies to China, Mondino said on Sunday during an appearance at the Argentina Business and Investment Summit in Shanghai.

Beijing also has significant investments in lithium in Argentina, home to one of the world’s largest lithium reserves. In 2022, China was the main destination for Argentina’s exports of lithium – a crucial metal for electric vehicle batteries – accounting for 41.5 per cent of its total exports, according to S&P Global Commodity Insights.

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China has been a crucial partner for Argentina’s renewable energy sector, with Chinese entities funding projects such as the Loma Blanca and Miramar wind farms, the Vientos del Secano project in Buenos Aires, and the Cauchari solar farm, the largest in the country.

During her talks with Wang, Mondino said that her government would “pursue an open policy and welcomed Chinese enterprises to invest and do business in Argentina”.