CURRENT INVESTMENT RELATIONSHIP AND OPPORTUNITIES BETWEEN CHINA AND ARGENTINA

“ONE BELT, ONE ROAD” January 2018: China arrives to Argentina with its most ambitious project

“ONE BELT, ONE ROAD” The Chinese Finance Minister held a meeting with President Mauricio Macri to implement the “One belt, one road” Plan, which considers millions of dollars invested in infrastructure projects. "One belt, one road" besides being an ambitious infrastructure project is also an economic development plan promoted by the Asian country around the world and, especially, in Latin America.

“ONE BELT, ONE ROAD” Xiao Jie – China’s Finance Minister – held a meeting with argentine president Mauricio Macri to address two fundamental issues which Beijing is particularly interested in, in Argentina: The G20 Summit, which will be held in Buenos Aires at the end of 2018. The development of the Chinese project for the region named “One Belt, One Road,” where millions of dollars will be used to fund the many infrastructure projects that the Asian government has in Argentina.

“ONE BELT, ONE ROAD” This project has 5 development stages:

1.POLITICAL To VALIDATE and ratify Argentina’s political interest in planning China’s cooperation with Latin American countries.

2.INFRASTRUCTURE To PLAN ahead infrastructure agreements, particularly those regarding connectivity such as the Agua Negra Tunnel project that will join Argentina and Chile, between the provinces of Coquimbo and San Juan, with a total cost of U$D 1,500 million.

3.COMMERCIAL To IMPROVE the commercial exchange between both countries and enhance the exportations from Argentina to China, considering that, in November, the First International Exhibition of Imported Products will take place.

4.CAPITAL To ADJUST the details of every funding project carried out by the Chinese government together with the Asian Development Bank.

5.SOCIAL To ESTABLISH a cooperation agreement between the Chinese government and Argentina in projects which improve Internet connectivity. China also develops this project in Latin American countries such as Chile, Brazil, Colombia and Peru.

“ONE BELT, ONE ROAD” Moreover, the “One Belt, One Road” Project foresees the funding of: The dams in Santa Cruz, which construction already started. The building of two nuclear power station projects for more than USD 15,000 million. The Chinese space station in Neuquén, which lunar watching antenna is in an adjustment stage. The railway infrastructure projects of Belgrano Cargas.

G-20 Summit In the meeting held between Macri and Xiao, the issues that will be addressed in the G-20 Summit in Buenos Aires were also analyzed. China has taken an interest on having a crucial role in that Presidents’ meeting and will take an active part in Argentina’s proposal to consider issues such as social inclusion in a technological world as well as the integration of small companies in the global economy. In turn, China has already advanced in agreements with the Ministry of Security to offer logistical assistance to Argentina during the G-20 considering the experience gained by China with the Presidents’ Summit held in Hangzhou, two years ago.

If during the last 20 years the Latin-American region has benefitted from the increase in demand for commodities from Asia, now the region can also take advantage of the high savings rates of Asian countries through the expansion of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, a multilateral organization founded just two years that aims to support the building of infrastructure in the Asia-Pacific region.

Argentina, along with six other countries in the region, are in the process of becoming members of the AIIB, which will grant them access to the surplus of Asian capitals to invest in infrastructure projects that encourage trade and connectivity with Asia. The AIIB seeks to associate with the Inter-American Development Bank (IADB) to co-finance programs in the Latin-American Region and take advantage of the network of relations that IABD has established in Latin America for the last 60 years.

China´s offshore investment plan. U$S 300-500 MILLIONS IN ARGENTINA 15.000 OUTSIDE ASIA U$S 100.000 China´s offshore investment plan. AIIB financial plans: 15%

A public-private partnership (“PPP”) is an institution regulated by Public-Private Partnership Act No. 27.328 and its Regulatory Decree No. 118/17, as amended by Decree No. 936/17 (the PPP Law”), designed to develop an infrastructure project through a stable partnership between the public and private sectors, and on the grounds of joint interests and a distribution of risks.