The presidents of China and Argentina signed five agreements in Beijing on Monday, dealing with civil aviation transportation, cooperation in public health and medical sciences, cultural cooperation, investment and agriculture.
The signing of the agreements was an important component of Argentine President Nestor Kirchner’s six-day state visit to China.
During his meeting with Kirchner, which preceded the signing ceremony, President Hu Jintao laid out a four-point proposal to boost the sustained, stable and deep development of bilateral ties.
The two countries should keep high-level contacts to inject vitality into bilateral relations, said Hu. Economic and trade ties should be strengthened, with agriculture and animal husbandry as the priority. There should also be increased exchanges between the peoples of the two nations.
China and Argentina should increase their coordination and cooperation in international bodies such as the United Nations, the World Trade Organization and the Forum for East Asia and Latin America Cooperation, said Hu.
Kirchner said the economies of the two countries are strongly complementary and have excellent potential.
He said Argentina would continue to abide by the one-China policy and consolidate bilateral ties in various sectors. The Chinese president expressed appreciation for Argentina’s support for China on the questions of Taiwan and human rights.
Hu said that China considers important its relations with the South American Common Market. The presidents of Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay initiated the market in March 1991 to promote economic integration in Latin America. It went into operation at the beginning of 1995.
Hu said China is willing to work with the members of the common market to expand their partnership. Kirchner replied that the members hope to work with China to bring benefits to all countries.
Kirchner arrived in Beijing on Sunday morning at the invitation of President Hu. He is scheduled to meet Chinese top legislator Wu Bangguo and Premier Wen Jiabao today and then tour Shanghai.
(China Daily June 29, 2004)
