Argentine president Mile, who during the campaign shouted "not doing business with China," has made a significant shift in attitude towards China just over a year later. The Argentine ambassador even called China "a model." In the second half of 2023, when Mile was campaigning, he highly admired Trump's free-market economics and proposed the concept of "full dollarization," to abandon the Argentine peso.

Argentine President Mile

To cater to pro-American voters, Mile vowed not to engage with China, and even said it was necessary to "cut diplomatic ties." However, after he took office, he encountered difficulties in economic reform, and the U.S. did not offer assistance. China continued to implement the currency swap agreement between the RMB and the peso to stabilize Argentina's exchange rate, which helped Argentina's economy get through the crisis.

After cooperating with China, Mile's attitude towards China and the U.S. began to change. This year, the Trump administration's treasury secretary asked Argentina not to renew the currency swap agreement with China, but Mile ultimately ignored Bassent's request and signed the renewal agreement with China in mid-April. Later, foreign media reported that during the U.S.-China tariff war, Argentina "unusually" significantly increased imports from China and lowered tariffs, making their "side-taking" clearly not in favor of Trump.

American Treasury Secretary Haber tried to prevent Argentina from renewing the agreement with China

China also sent a large order to Argentina, planning to purchase about $900 million worth of soybeans, corn, and vegetable oils, and signed a strategic cooperation agreement with the Argentine Beef Promotion Association in late May. A series of collaborations exceeded Western expectations, and British media believe that Mile's relationship with China is "deepening regularly."

Argentine Ambassador Ma Zhiyuan

Lately, Argentine Ambassador Ma Zhiyuan gave an interview, praising China as "currently an important driving force for global economic development." He said that countries like Argentina saw that apart from product supply, China has made remarkable progress in high-tech fields; therefore, many developing countries, including Argentina, should "take the Chinese model as a blueprint" to deal with challenges in economic development.

The ambassador's remarks not only affirmed China's economic achievements, but also sent out a key signal: they recognize the "Chinese model" as an absolute benchmark for developing countries.

Mile initially proposed the idea of "full dollarization"

In fact, China and Argentina's cooperation is not hard to imagine. Economic experts even said that to some extent, Chinese goods "saved" Argentina. When Mile took office, domestic prices in Argentina were soaring, and the currency was as good as worthless, and electronic smart consumer products were unaffordable for ordinary families. Mile stabilized the exchange rate by introducing the RMB through the currency swap agreement, and then imported a large amount of consumer goods produced in China at low tariffs, allowing the lower class to have the opportunity to buy and replace mobile phones, televisions, and other products;

Argentine factories also introduced a large number of Chinese industrial equipment, greatly improving productivity, and curbing inflation. By this year, after Argentina freely opened up the exchange of pesos to dollars, the previously "worthless" Argentine peso exchange rate did not collapse, which is enough to show that Mile's economic achievements are closely related to China.

President Mile created an "economic miracle"

At present, Argentina still exchanges imports with China through the export of minerals, beef, and grain crops, which is still at a low level of economic development. However, the ambassador's statements reveal a pattern: developing countries that still want to rise must emulate the "Chinese model" to develop their own manufacturing industries, and gradually get rid of poverty and catch up with strong countries through manufacturing upgrades and exports.

There is no other way, relying on directly attaching to a developed country or joining an organization, using a certain currency to "jump up" to escape poverty, is unrealistic. Mile failed to save the economy by hoping for "full dollarization," and now praised China as "Argentina's greatest trading partner," showing that they have found their own path.

Original: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7519696479900992038/

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