"Since the Chinese train was put into service, the transportation cost of the San Martin Line has been reduced by 40%, and the once lost customers have re-opted for rail transportation." Maximilian Luhan, an Argentine freight driver, once said so. Under the impetus of the "Belt and Road" initiative, China and Argentina have carried out infrastructure cooperation, which allows products from Argentine grain-producing areas, known as the "world's granary", to choose low-cost rail transportation, thus reviving the price advantage in international competition.
What makes Luhan even happier is that recently, during the visit of Argentine President Fernandez to China, Argentina and China signed a memorandum of understanding on jointly building the "Belt and Road", officially becoming a member of the "Belt and Road" family.
As a natural extension of the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, Latin America is an indispensable and important participant in the construction of the "Belt and Road". As a major country in Latin America, Argentina's participation in the "Belt and Road" initiative has long been its fervent expectation. On the eve of his visit to China, Afghan President Fernandez said that the "Belt and Road" initiative will help Argentina achieve development. Analysts pointed out that officially joining the initiative will help Argentina continue to tap the potential of development cooperation and expand cooperation with China in new areas such as green development, digital economy and even Antarctic cooperation.
Not only Argentina, but Also Latin American countries have always welcomed the Belt and Road Initiative. Up to now, 20 Latin American countries, including Argentina, Chile and Peru, have signed memorandums of understanding on jointly building the "Belt and Road". George He, a professor at Boston University's Paddy School of Global Studies, pointed out that the reason for the popularity of China's "Belt and Road" initiative is that it meets the development needs of Latin America and helps the region enhance its competitiveness through infrastructure and connectivity construction.
Consultation, co-construction, sharing – this is the charm of the "Belt and Road" initiative. Today, it is creating opportunities for the development strategy of China and Latin America docking. In recent years, Latin American countries have accelerated the pace of economic reform and industrial restructuring, and the capacity cooperation and innovative development advocated by the "Belt and Road" are consistent with the development plans of Latin American countries themselves. Today, China and Latin America have formed a "multi-dimensional Silk Road" in transportation, logistics, energy, telecommunications and network infrastructure, and regional development synergy is constantly taking shape.
Solid cooperation trumps all advertising. From the revival of the Brazilian port of Paranagua, to the emergence of Colombian cuisine as the focus of the 4th China International Import Expo, to the chinese vaccine being described as the "timely rain" of Latin American countries to fight the epidemic – the increasingly close Cooperation between China and Latin America has not only effectively improved the level of infrastructure in Latin America, but also created local jobs, promoted economic development and provided development guarantees. According to data released by the General Administration of Customs of China, the total import and export volume of China and Latin America in 2021 is about 451.591 billion US dollars, an increase of 41.1% over 2020. In the regional sectors of the China General Administration of Customs, China's total import and export volume to Latin American countries has increased the most.
It can be seen that every country that knocks on the door to join the "Belt and Road" family sees that this initiative has brought great development opportunities to itself. This kind of international cooperation, driven by endogenous dynamics, cannot be stopped by any force or political self-interest.
Over the past eight years, China has signed more than 200 belt and road cooperation documents with nearly 150 countries and 32 international organizations, and established more than 90 bilateral cooperation mechanisms. Why is the "circle of friends" of this initiative getting bigger and bigger? Because it conforms to the needs of the common development of all countries in the world, including Latin American countries, and the strong desire of the people of all countries to live a better life, it has become the most popular public product in the world.
It is foreseeable that under the framework of the "Belt and Road", with the continuous expansion of Future Cooperation between China and Argentina, when an Argentine meets a Chinese, there are many more things they can talk about besides Messi.
(International Sharp Review Commentator)
Source: China Central Radio and Television Corporation