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China and Argentina: A New Global Financial System Is Needed
21 July 2014
(LPAC)—During his visit Saturday morning to the Argentine Congress, as part of his state visit to the country, Chinese President Xi Jinping told gathered legislators that the relations between the two nations were at a "historic take-off point." Their’s was not just a bilateral relationship, but a comprehensive strategic one, he said, in which he and Argentine President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner share similar views on such crucial issues as reforming the global financial system. In the press conference held after their July 18 bilateral meeting, both heads of state referenced this point. During that meeting, Xinhua reported, President Xi suggested that the two governments strengthen their communication and coordination on such major issues as the "reform of the international economic and financial system," defend the rights of developing countries, and push for a more "equitable and reasonable" world order. He made a multi-point proposal, saying that both nations should further deepen mutual political trust, and support each other’s independent choice of development path. The Chinese President also expressed his support for Argentina in its battle against the vulture funds. Urging respect for the existing agreement with restructured bondholders, he said: "China supports Argentina in the restructuring of its debt." In her July 18 remarks, President Fernández stated that, "China is helping to rearrange [the global geometry] so that countries such as those of us who met in Brasilia, at the CELAC meeting, may have new and better opportunities.... A world in which some dominate others, and exist at the expense of others, isn’t going to be possible. Cooperation and ’win-to-win,’ in which we all win, must be the centrepiece of a new global model, and in this we are absolutely in agreement with the Peoples’ Republic of China." China and Argentina have a common "vision regarding international problems" as well, she added. "We’ve had similar positions at the last G-20 meeting, on the Syria issue ... on Ukraine, in which we said that countries must solve their problems without foreign interference. But fundamentally, both nations have a view that each country must define its own model of development without any type of interference. You [China] have had the enormous determination to define your own model of development to guarantee the prosperity of millions of Chinese...." President Fernández highlighted the importance of the $11 billion currency swap offered by China, which, she said, "[will allow for] exchange rate stability at a time when we are under speculative attack ... which frequently cause currency fluctuations, and make the world very insecure and very unstable in financial terms, and thus not conducive to the development of trade, and certainly not to the prosperity of nations...." |