La Rioja and other provinces seek Chinese investments
China, the second economy in the world, could move forward that year with the disbursement of funds for infrastructure works in some provinces, within the framework of an unprecedented initiative that already includes La Rioja, La Pampa and the province of Buenos Aires among those interested. .
The activity of several provincial leaders, including Ricardo Quintela, aims to seek resources in the powerful Asian country.
Thus it was that a month ago, Governor Ricardo Quintela visited the ambassador at his residence, with the expectation of receiving a mission similar to the one that recently concluded in La Pampa. Although the diplomacy of subnational governments is not something new, it seems to have intensified with the change of government in December.
The Pampa
The governor of La Pampa, Sergio Ziliotto, received a mission of businessmen from that country in Santa Rosa, the provincial capital.
The ambassador of the People’s Republic of China in Argentina, Wang Wei, visited the city of Santa Rosa, accompanied by representatives of five large companies from that country, who met with the governor and officials from the economic and production area.
As confirmed by Noticias Argentinas, the companies that visited La Pampa are Shanghai Electric Power, dedicated to the construction of energy plants, high voltage transmission lines, gas pipelines and aqueducts; Goldwind, which operates with clean energy on six continents and more than 40 countries; ICBC, a banking institution with more than one hundred years operating in the world and since 2012 in Argentina; LiuGong, a company dedicated to the development of professional construction machinery, industrial machinery and infrastructure machinery for more than 65 years, and Huawei, a technology company that has set itself the mission of bringing the digital world closer to people, homes and organizations.
Commercial ties
The trade mission is the first fruit of the visit that Governor Ziliotto made to the embassy of that country last February.
“We share the firm commitment to consolidate friendship and collaboration between our communities,” Ziliotto declared then, to differentiate himself from the gestures of the national administration towards Taiwan, after publicly desisting from Argentina’s incorporation into the BRICS.
From the governor’s office, they confirmed that the outcome of the meeting is “highly positive.”
Businessmen expressed special interest in the free zone surrounding General Pico, as a place to locate investments linked to grains and meat, and in the west of the province, due to its energy potential. There was also another coincidence: the governor spoke of energy sovereignty, a concept that is key for China.
Buenos Aires, on the way
The other province that intensified its direct relations with the Asian power is Buenos Aires.
Two weeks ago, the chief of staff, Carlos Bianco, met with the vice governor of the Chinese province of Hebei, Shi Qingshuang.
Last February, the governor celebrated the Chinese New Year in La Plata with Ambassador Wang Wei.
In November, both had jointly announced the construction of a fertilizer plant in Bahía Blanca, an investment of US$ 1.25 billion.
Role of governors
Former national deputy Guillermo Carmona, who represented the province of Mendoza for two terms, is an expert in geopolitics and served until December 10 as secretary of the Malvinas, Antarctica, Ocean Policy and South Atlantic, dependent on the Foreign Ministry.
Asked about this, he regretted that President Javier Milei “is carrying out a systematic demolition of ties with countries in the region and with important global economic powers.”
“This practice and the omission of foreign policy actions aimed at consolidating and opening opportunities for international economic and commercial relations leaves the provinces in a very complicated position,” he warned.
Carmona said that “in the face of the nothingness that the government’s international economic policy represents, the governors assume a leading role. They try to avoid for their provinces, with concrete efforts, the effects of the growing isolation caused by the excesses and incompetence of milleism and by the surrender that characterizes the residual macrismo that controls the Chancellery.”
