Argentine President stresses four cooperation areas with China

Chinese President Xi Jinping meets with Argentina's President Mauricio Macri in Washington D.C., the United States, April 1, 2016. (Xinhua/Yao Dawei)

China and Argentina should march forwards together on the development path, Argentine President Mauricio Macri told the People’s Daily on Wednesday, stressing the importance of reinforcing ties with China.

Macri made the remarks on the eve of his attendance of the G20 Summit, which is to be held in Hangzhou of East China’s Zhejiang Province in early September.

The president said he believes that as an important platform on which global leaders can exchange ideas and discuss solutions, the G20 Summit will play a vital role in bolstering innovation, investment, sustainable development, and inclusive development.

“I hope the G20 Summit will offer remedies on how to cope with challenges confronted by today’s world,” he added.

He also recalled his first meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping during the Nuclear Security Summit in Washington DC, saying that he expects to discuss bilateral ties with Xi during the upcoming summit. “Developing our relationship with China is particularly important,” he stressed.

China and Argentina are complementary to each other in development, Macri noted, illustrating that Argentina is a good partner of China in terms of food security. The president further explained that Argentina needs to follow China's steps in infrastructure construction.

The president also hopes to boost exchanges with China in tourism and sports. "We hope to attract more Chinese tourists," said Macri, explaining that more than 100 million Chinese people are making outbound trips every year, while only 30,000 of them visit Argentina annually.

Talking about sports exchanges, he said that Argentina can be China’s cooperative partner in football development as the former has advantages while the latter’s public nowadays have increasing passion for football.

Macri also praised the contribution of the China-LAC Cooperation Fund to Latin America’s development, saying that Argentina appreciates its strategic collaboration with China and also hopes such cooperation would create employment in both countries.

Argentina will host the next G20 Summit in 2018. Describing it as a challenge for the nation, Macri pledged that his country will cooperate with China to contribute to poverty elimination, educational development, and global integration around the world through the platform of G20.