• Burmese
Tuesday, July 8, 2025
No Result
View All Result
NEWSLETTER
The Irrawaddy
26 °c
Yangon
  • Home
  • News
    • Burma
    • Politics
    • World
    • Asia
    • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
    • Ethnic Issues
    • War Against the Junta
    • Junta Cronies
    • Conflicts In Numbers
    • Junta Watch
    • Fact Check
    • Investigation
    • Myanmar-China Watch
    • Obituaries
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Opinion
    • Commentary
    • Guest Column
    • Analysis
    • Editorial
    • Stories That Shaped Us
    • Letters
  • Junta Watch
  • Ethnic Issues
  • War Against the Junta
  • In Person
    • Interview
    • Profile
  • Books
  • Donation
  • Home
  • News
    • Burma
    • Politics
    • World
    • Asia
    • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
    • Ethnic Issues
    • War Against the Junta
    • Junta Cronies
    • Conflicts In Numbers
    • Junta Watch
    • Fact Check
    • Investigation
    • Myanmar-China Watch
    • Obituaries
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Opinion
    • Commentary
    • Guest Column
    • Analysis
    • Editorial
    • Stories That Shaped Us
    • Letters
  • Junta Watch
  • Ethnic Issues
  • War Against the Junta
  • In Person
    • Interview
    • Profile
  • Books
  • Donation
No Result
View All Result
The Irrawaddy
No Result
View All Result
Home News Asia

China Vets South American Free Trade Deal

The Irrawaddy by The Irrawaddy
June 26, 2012
in Uncategorized
Reading Time: 2 mins read
0 0
A A
China Vets South American Free Trade Deal

Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad Al-Maliki shakes hands with his Uruguayan counterpart Luis Almagro after Mercosur signed a free trade agreement with Palestine in Montevideo in December 2011. Now the South American economic bloc could be looking at a much larger deal with Beijing. (PHOTO: Reuters)

1.3k
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina—Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said the Asian giant is interested in a possible free-trade deal with the Mercosur [Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay] regional trade bloc.

Wen met Argentine President Cristina Fernandez in Buenos Aires on Monday as part of a South American tour that included visits to Brazil and Uruguay and will end in Chile this week.

In a video-conference with regional leaders, Wen said China should carry out feasibility studies on the possibility of a trade deal.

RelatedPosts

Myanmar Junta Trains Staff on Electronic Voting Machines Across the Country

Myanmar Junta Trains Staff on Electronic Voting Machines Across the Country

July 8, 2025
40
Chin Resistance Tensions Boil Over as CNA Seizes Rival’s Myanmar HQ

Chin Resistance Tensions Boil Over as CNA Seizes Rival’s Myanmar HQ

July 8, 2025
372
China’s Surveillance State Watches Everyone, Everywhere

China’s Surveillance State Watches Everyone, Everywhere

July 8, 2025
220

“We share ample common interests and we have great potential,” Wen said next to Fernandez in the video-conference that included Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff and Uruguayan President Jose Mujica.

China is Mercosur’s second-biggest trade partner, and Rousseff said strengthening ties could become a “strategy to keep the crisis contagion from reaching our markets and provoking unwanted consequences in employment and income that would hurt economic growth.”

Argentina is a major exporter of soybeans to China, and Fernandez said increasing links between China and Mercosur is “a historic opportunity to add value to our raw materials and create jobs.”

The free-trade deal could be discussed during Mercosur’s meeting in Mendoza, Argentina, this week. Paraguay is also part of the bloc but does not have diplomatic relations with China because it recognizes Taiwan, which Beijing considers a renegade province.

In the first visit of a Chinese premier to Argentina in almost three decades, Wen also signed accords in nuclear energy and for the export of Argentine horses and livestock, as well as fruits, honey, wine and other food products.

Argentina and China had announced in 2010 that Chinese banks would invest US $10 billion to restore a massive cargo rail system that once linked Argentina’s farming belt. The project, which would help get grains faster and cheaper to port, has been at a stalemate since then. The two leaders said the project is still on track but provided no details.

Most farm products in Argentina are transported by trucks, and farmers have long called for renovation of the dilapidated train system that was once one of the world’s best. The deal would be welcomed by Argentina, which is bracing for a nationwide truckers strike Wednesday that could cause food and fuel shortages.

The leaders also signed a separate letter of intent for a loan by the China Development Bank to the Argentine Foreign Investment and Trade Bank. Before the signing of the agreements, Wen visited the Argentine Congress and met with Vice-president Amado Boudou and Julian Dominguez, a senator and former agriculture minister. Argentina ships about 80 percent of its soybeans to China, with total trade between the two countries reaching $14.8 billion last year.

Your Thoughts …
The Irrawaddy

The Irrawaddy

...

Similar Picks:

Exodus: Tens of Thousands Flee as Myanmar Junta Troops Face Last Stand in Kokang
Burma

Exodus: Tens of Thousands Flee as Myanmar Junta Troops Face Last Stand in Kokang

by Hein Htoo Zan
November 28, 2023
98.5k

Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army troops are opening roads and pathways through forests for people to flee Kokang’s capital as...

Read moreDetails
Burning Alive in Myanmar: Two Resistance Fighters Executed in Public
Burma

Burning Alive in Myanmar: Two Resistance Fighters Executed in Public

by The Irrawaddy
February 7, 2024
89.8k

People’s Defense Force says junta troops told every household in the village to send one member to witness the double...

Read moreDetails
Another Entire Junta Battalion Raises the White Flag in Myanmar’s Northern Shan State
War Against the Junta

Another Entire Junta Battalion Raises the White Flag in Myanmar’s Northern Shan State

by The Irrawaddy
November 29, 2023
87.1k

Brotherhood Alliance member says it now has complete control of Kokang’s northernmost section after the junta’s Light Infantry Battalion 125...

Read moreDetails
Depleted Myanmar Military Urges Deserters to Return to Barracks
Burma

Depleted Myanmar Military Urges Deserters to Return to Barracks

by The Irrawaddy
December 4, 2023
59k

The junta said deserters would not be punished for minor crimes, highlighting the military’s shortage of troops as resistance offensives...

Read moreDetails
As Myanmar’s Military Stumbles, a Top General’s Dissapearance Fuels Intrigue
Burma

As Myanmar’s Military Stumbles, a Top General’s Dissapearance Fuels Intrigue

by The Irrawaddy
April 19, 2024
46.9k

The junta’s No. 2 has not been seen in public since April 3, sparking rumors that he was either gravely...

Read moreDetails
Enter the Dragon, Exit the Junta: Myanmar’s Brotherhood Alliance makes Chinese New Year Vow
Burma

Enter the Dragon, Exit the Junta: Myanmar’s Brotherhood Alliance makes Chinese New Year Vow

by The Irrawaddy
February 12, 2024
44.7k

Ethnic armed grouping says it will continue Operation 1027 offensive until goal of ousting the junta is achieved. 

Read moreDetails
Load More
Next Post

Indonesia Names Newly Born Sumatra Rhino

Malaysia Court: Give Iranian Bomb Suspect to Thais

No Result
View All Result

Recommended

Myanmar Regime Leader Rejects World Bank Economic Forecast as Inaccurate

Myanmar Regime Leader Rejects World Bank Economic Forecast as Inaccurate

5 days ago
1.5k
From Foreign Policy Drift to Diplomatic Freefall in Myanmar

From Foreign Policy Drift to Diplomatic Freefall in Myanmar

1 week ago
2.2k

Most Read

  • Myanmar Junta Starves Last Rakhine Strongholds as AA Closes In

    Myanmar Junta Starves Last Rakhine Strongholds as AA Closes In

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Timor-Leste Hits Back at Myanmar Junta’s Objection to ASEAN Membership

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • TNLA Defies Myanmar Junta Push to Cede Shan Towns in China Talks  

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Myanmar People Skeptical of Junta’s Promises of Election, Peace

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Myanmar’s Civilian Govt Rebuffs Junta’s Appeal for ‘Cooperation’

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0

Newsletter

Get The Irrawaddy’s latest news, analyses and opinion pieces on Myanmar in your inbox.

Subscribe here for daily updates.

Contents

  • News
  • Politics
  • War Against the Junta
  • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
  • Conflicts In Numbers
  • Junta Crony
  • Ethnic Issues
  • Asia
  • World
  • Business
  • Economy
  • Election 2020
  • Elections in History
  • Cartoons
  • Features
  • Opinion
  • Editorial
  • Commentary
  • Guest Column
  • Analysis
  • Letters
  • In Person
  • Interview
  • Profile
  • Dateline
  • Specials
  • Myanmar Diary
  • Women & Gender
  • Places in History
  • On This Day
  • From the Archive
  • Myanmar & COVID-19
  • Intelligence
  • Myanmar-China Watch
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Food
  • Fashion & Design
  • Videos
  • Photos
  • Photo Essay
  • Donation

About The Irrawaddy

Founded in 1993 by a group of Myanmar journalists living in exile in Thailand, The Irrawaddy is a leading source of reliable news, information, and analysis on Burma/Myanmar and the Southeast Asian region. From its inception, The Irrawaddy has been an independent news media group, unaffiliated with any political party, organization or government. We believe that media must be free and independent and we strive to preserve press freedom.

  • Copyright
  • Code of Ethics
  • Privacy Policy
  • Team
  • About Us
  • Careers
  • Contact
  • Burmese

© 2023 Irrawaddy Publishing Group. All Rights Reserved

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
    • Burma
    • Politics
    • World
    • Asia
    • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
    • Ethnic Issues
    • War Against the Junta
    • Junta Cronies
    • Conflicts In Numbers
    • Junta Watch
    • Fact Check
    • Investigation
    • Myanmar-China Watch
    • Obituaries
  • Politics
  • Opinion
    • Commentary
    • Guest Column
    • Analysis
    • Editorial
    • Stories That Shaped Us
    • Letters
  • Ethnic Issues
  • War Against the Junta
  • In Person
    • Interview
    • Profile
  • Business
    • Economy
    • Business Roundup
  • Books
  • Donation

© 2023 Irrawaddy Publishing Group. All Rights Reserved

This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used. Visit our Privacy and Cookie Policy.