November 16, 2004
Reuters
Yahoo News
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (Reuters) - China and Argentina signed accords on Tuesday that could bring nearly $20 billion in investment from the Asian giant over the next 10 years for the capital-starved Latin American economy.
Chinese President Hu Jintao and President Nestor Kirchner vowed to deepen trade relations, mostly centered today on China's huge purchases of Argentine soybeans and key to Argentina's recovery from economic collapse in 2002.
In a country with negligible foreign investment due to a debt default, China said it could invest up to $8 billion in Argentina's railroads, $6 billion in housing and $5 billion in oil exploration. There were no further details.
Argentine markets had risen in the last days on reports of $20 billion in investment from China. But Argentine officials were cautious about the numbers in Tuesday's accords.
"The investments will only come with a very big effort," said Planning Minister Julio De Vido.
On Hu's visit to neighboring Brazil before arriving in Argentina, China indicated that it could invest $10 billion in the region's top economy over the next two years.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&ncid=721&e=1&u=/nm/20041117/wl_nm/trade_argentina_china_dc