For the purpose of strengthening bilateral economic ties with the People's Republic of China, a delegation of Foreign Ministry officers travelled to Beijing with the firm intention of improving access to that important market by Argentine products. The delegation is headed by the Secretary for International Economic Relations, María Cristina Boldorini. The Argentine Ambassador to China, Diego Guelar, and a team of diplomatic officers are also participating in the negotiations.
In that context, the 20th Meeting of the Argentine-Chinese Joint Economic and Trade Committee takes place in Beijing on 11 and 12 July. On such occasion, the status and evolution of trade and investment relations between the two countries will be comprehensively reviewed with the authorities of the Chinese Ministry of Commerce. The last bilateral meeting of this kind was held in 2013.
The aim of the visit is to increase and diversify Argentine exports to China, in order to compensate for Argentina's deficit with its second-largest trade partner. Boldorini remarked that “our main interest is to open markets and improve on the conditions to export products with greater added value.”
As regards sanitary and phytosanitary matters, the aim is to obtain authorization for beef and poultry cold storage plants, as well as to finalize the protocol for table grape exports, to make progress in negotiations for blueberries, and to improve on access conditions for sorghum. In addition, the Argentine delegation seeks to overcome access difficulties for soybean oil, corn, and some fish products, such as shrimp.
With regard to investments, the delegations will exchange information on projects of interest to both parties in the fields of infrastructure, mining, transport and energy. Also, tourism promotion activities will be discussed under the theme "2017 - Year of Argentine-Chinese Tourism," and the visa issuance process will be streamlined in order to attract 1,400,000 annual Chinese visitors with a high purchasing power.
Press release No. 223/16
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