Argentina’s foreign minister begins a 10-day tour of China, France, Belgium and Portugal on Sunday, with the aim of increasing exports and investment in Latin America’s third largest economy.
Diana Mondino will visit China between April 28 and 30, accompanied by a “large delegation of companies from various Argentine export sectors”, according to a statement released on Tuesday.
The diplomat then heads to Paris, where she will take part in a meeting of the Council of Ministers of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) between May 2 and 3, at which the roadmap for Argentina’s accession to the multilateral body could be announced.
Mondino will then meet with EU leaders in Brussels on May 5 and 6, to try to make progress in bilateral negotiations with the European bloc, as well as in the trade agreement between the EU and Mercosur, of which Argentina is one of the member countries, along with Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay and Bolivia.
Mondino’s trip ends on May 7th with a visit to Lisbon.
During the presidential campaign, Argentina’s head of state, Javier Milei, who was elected in December, repeatedly rejected the idea of a trade alliance with China: “I don’t make pacts with communists”.
But three weeks ago, Milei told the Bloomberg Linea financial news agency: “If people want to do business with China, they can.”
China is Argentina’s second main trading partner after Brazil, accounting for 24.4% of Argentine imports and 6.6% of exports, according to the latest official figures.
