Editor's Note: Guo Cunhai is a senior research fellow and director of Center for Argentina Studies at Institute of Latin American Studies, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. The article reflects the author's opinions and not necessarily the views of CGTN.

Argentina is a long way from China, but mountains and oceans cannot block the mutual development of the two countries. China and Argentina have transcended geographical limitations and jointly created a comprehensive strategic partnership.

The most concentrated manifestation of this partnership took place in 2022. The year 2022 marked the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Argentina, and was also a landmark year for the development of cooperation between the two countries. Argentina not only publicly opposed the diplomatic boycott of the Beijing Winter Olympics by Western developed countries led by the U.S., but also chose to attend the opening ceremony and pay a state visit to China. President Alberto Fernandez was the only leader of major Latin American countries to attend the opening ceremony of the Beijing Winter Olympics. During the visit, the two countries not only issued a joint statement on deepening the comprehensive strategic partnership, but also signed a cooperation document on jointly building the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). 

This year marks the beginning of another 50 years of China-Argentina relations, marking the start of a new journey and a new stage of development for bilateral relations.

Firstly, comprehensive cooperation between China and Argentina has continued to deepen. At the end of May, an Argentine economic delegation led by Minister of Economy Sergio Massa visited China and held intensive talks with leaders of the Chinese economic, financial and business communities to strengthen bilateral cooperation in the areas of infrastructure, trade and finance. On June 2, representatives of the two governments signed a cooperation plan for jointly promoting the construction of the BRI in Beijing. The plan is of great significance to deepening the political mutual trust and the alignment of development strategies between the two countries. It is a roadmap and action guide for the two countries to jointly build a high-quality BRI, and is conducive to promoting bilateral practical cooperation in various fields and improving the wellbeing of the people of both nations.

Second, complementarity has become a continuous driving force for bilateral cooperation. The economic structure of China and Argentina has strong complementarity, and both sides have strong mutual needs. Since the establishment of diplomatic relations, trade between China and Argentina has been continuously advancing, and economic and trade cooperation has been deepening and diversifying. When the two countries established diplomatic relations in 1972, the bilateral trade volume was only $6 million, but by 2022, it had reached $21.363 billion. At present, China is Argentina's second largest trading partner, the largest destination country for agricultural exports, and the third largest source of investment. Meanwhile, in order to change trade imbalances, Argentina is vigorously promoting export diversification, especially in the export of mineral products. China is now Argentina's main exporter of lithium carbonate, accounting for one-third of the country's total exports.

Third, currency swaps promote bilateral cooperation to a higher level. The financial cooperation between China and Argentina draws on the strengths of both countries and plays an increasingly prominent role in supporting bilateral economic and trade cooperation. In November 2022, ICBC officially launched the Argentine RMB clearing bank service in Buenos Aires. The establishment of the RMB clearing mechanism stems from bilateral currency swaps. In 2009, the two countries signed the first currency swap agreement, which has been renewed multiple times. In June 2023, in order to help support the Argentine peso, the two countries officially renewed the 130 billion yuan currency swap agreement and activated the 35 billion yuan disposable limit. As Massa said, this move is not only conducive to strengthening Argentina's foreign exchange reserves, but also helps promote bilateral trade. As early as April this year, Argentina announced the use of the Chinese yuan instead of the U.S. dollar to settle imports from China. From currency swaps to RMB settlement, China-Argentina cooperation has been continuously upgraded, which has strongly promoted RMB internationalization and bilateral trade and investment facilitation.