Chinese President Xi Jinping (R) meets with his Argentine counterpart Mauricio Macri who came to Hangzhou to attend the G20 Summit in Hangzhou, capital city of east China's Zhejiang Province, Sept. 3, 2016. (Xinhua/Li Tao)
BUENOS AIRES, Oct. 20 (Xinhua) -- Bilateral ties between Argentina and China are bound to grow in the medium and long term, said a scholar on international relations.
Sergio Cesarin, coordinator of the Center for Asia Pacific and India Studies (CEAPI) of the National University of Tres de Febrero in Buenos Aires, made the remarks in an interview with Xinhua after a conference entitled "China 2040: Economic Forecast and Global Connectivity" at the Confucius Institute of the University of Buenos Aires (UBA).
The two countries have not only expanded economic cooperation in recent years but also maintained intensive political dialogue in many areas, he noted.
"A number of treaties and bilateral accords are indications of strengthening ties," said Cesarin, who is also a member of the Faculty of Economics at UBA.
China and Argentina celebrated 45 years of diplomatic ties in February, and over the past nearly half a century, bilateral ties "have been in a constant state of growth," the expert added.
"That distant, remote and somewhat imaginary China -- because it was difficult to envision concretely -- is now a close China that is around us." he said.
Chinese engineers of the Gezhouba enterprise, Ni Si Ping (L), Guo Cui Zhi (C), and Yao Xiao Guo (R) react in the Piedra Buena workroom, in the city of Comandante Luis Piedra Buena, in Santa Cruz province, 3000km from the city of Buenos Aires, capital of Argentina, on Sept. 2, 2015. (Xinhua/Martin Zabala)
This year, Beijing consolidated its position as Argentina's second-largest trade partner worldwide, with a 13 percent increase in imports from Argentina, driven by a wider range of goods and a more balanced trade structure.
China has become the leading importer of Argentine beef, with sales to China representing 35 percent of the South American country's total beef exports.
The Asian giant is also taking part in a series of key infrastructure projects in Argentina, including in the areas of hydroelectric and nuclear energy, rail building, clean energy development and housing construction.
The current economic equation and the future economic outlook show China is going to be a central player in global affairs, both politically and economically, and Argentina aspires to dynamically join global political and economic systems, he said.
"China will without a doubt continue to be a very important player for us......It already has been for a long time, but in the future it is going to be in terms of forging richer and more robust bilateral ties, because certainly new areas for bilateral cooperation are going to open up," Cesarin added.
