China, Argentina close as neighbors: Argentine Ambassador

Ambassador of Argentina to China Diego Guelar

Buenos Aires and Beijing are nearly 20,000 kilometers apart, but the relations between the Argentina and China are as close as neighbors, said Argentine Ambassador to China Diego Guelar in a recent exclusive interview with People’s Daily. During the interview, the ambassador expressed his welcome to and expectation toward Chinese President Xi Jinping’s upcoming state visit to Argentina, as well as the Chinese leader’s attendance to the 13th Group of 20 (G20) summit to be held in the country’s capital Buenos Aires.

Bilateral trade between China and Argentina totaled nearly $13.81 billion in 2017. Now, Argentina has become China’s fifth largest trading partner in Latin America, and China remains Argentina’s third largest one globally. The two countries have complementary economies and are getting more and more closer, noted the ambassador, who expected that products from Argentina, such as shrimps, beef and wines, can become big stars to Chinese consumers. Meanwhile, Argentina and other countries in the region are also in particular need of China’s infrastructure capacity, technology and investment, said Guelar.

The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) proposed by Chinese President Xi Jinping is a great proposal that offers not only win-win scheme but also common development, said Guelar. “It brings an extraordinary opportunity for the world, and an interesting, increasing, and enlarging market,” he said, adding that the Belt and Road Initiative has undoubtedly achieved remarkable success. Argentina is expecting that President Xi’s visit can bring more good news to the joint construction of the Belt and Road, especially in trade, infrastructure, and other aspects closely related to people’s livelihood, he noted.

Guelar admires President Xi very much. He spoke highly of China’s achievements in the new era, praising the country as a locomotive driving global economy. He believes that China’s fast economic growth is one of the highlights that have received the most attention from the international community in the first half of the 21st century. It’s hoped that President Xi can contribute more wisdom to an open world economy, said Guelar. The world has been haunted by trade protectionism recently. In such a context, the G20 summit, featuring multilateralism in essence, is bound to send a clear signal of opposing protectionism and supporting the multilateral trading system, noted Guelar. It’s also hoped that all leaders can reach consensus and jointly play a leading role in promoting sound development of the world economy and improving the well-being of people from all countries.

Guelar said he felt honored to have attended the G20 summit in Hangzhou, China two years ago. He told People’s Daily that China assumed a very serious and successful presidency of the G20 in implementing the agenda of Hangzhou summit, making the event a big success. It’s a great experience of leadership for China because all participating members spoke seriously about consensuses but it’s not easy to reach consensus, he remarked. Argentina hopes to successfully host the G20 summit with reference to China’s experience, said Guelar. “The international community desperately needs the G20 platform where the decision on the world’s issues  has to be obeyed and respected by all countries, both the powerful and the relatively weak ones.”

By Huan Xiang and Wang Di

(People’s Daily)