China and Argentina —— Meeting halfway around the world

The 2014 World Cup has just come to an end, and the loss of the Argentine final has made many China fans lament. Recently, the Supreme Leader of president will visit Argentina soon, and this charming Latin American country has once again attracted people’s attention.

In Chinese’s geography class, when it comes to Argentina, teachers have told the children that Argentina and China are opposite in the latitude and longitude of the earth, and are located at the two ends of the earth. If we can reach the other side of the earth from the center of the earth under our feet, we will reach Argentina. "How do Argentines live on the other side of the globe? Are they all living upside down? " It has become one of the childhood questions of many children. Nowadays, when it comes to Argentina, most Chinese will think of Argentine football stars, such as Diego Maradona and Messi, which are familiar to Chinese. In fact, apart from football, China and Afghanistan, two countries far away from the two ends of the earth, also have a lot in common.

The visit of the Supreme Leader will push China-Arab strategic partnership to a new level.

On February 19th, 1972, China established diplomatic relations with Argentina. In 2004, China and Afghanistan established a strategic partnership. Since the establishment of diplomatic relations, the leaders of the two countries have exchanged visits, and nine heads of state of China and Albania have exchanged visits, which has deepened mutual understanding and friendship.

The first official visit between China and Argentina can be traced back to May 13-16, 1988. At the invitation of China president Yang Shangkun, Argentine President Raú l Alfonsin paid an official visit to China. From May 26th to 29th, 1990, China president Yang Shangkun paid a state visit to Argentina. This is the first time that a head of state of China has visited Argentina. After the first exchange of visits between the two heads of state, the development of bilateral relations has reached a new level and deepened mutual understanding and friendship. Before the Supreme Leader’s trip to Latin America, President Cristina paid a five-day state visit to China from July 11th to 15th, 2010.

In a joint interview with the media of four Latin American countries on the eve of his visit, the Supreme Leader said: China and Argentina have become good friends of mutual trust and good partners of equality and mutual benefit. The cooperation between the two sides in various fields is fruitful. I look forward to an in-depth exchange of views with President Christina on China-Arab relations and issues of common concern, planning a blueprint for the development of bilateral relations, and close exchanges and cooperation in various fields to push China-Arab strategic partnership to a new level.

With the increasingly close relationship between China and Argentina, Argentina has set up four permanent diplomatic and consular offices in China, and China has become the country with the largest number of permanent diplomatic and consular offices in the Asia-Pacific region. Argentina was also the first Latin American country to sign a currency swap agreement with China. In 2009, the People’s Bank of China and the Argentine Central Bank signed a currency swap framework agreement of 70 billion yuan equivalent to RMB. This is by far the largest financial transaction between China and Latin American countries, which has strengthened the strategic cooperation between China and Argentina in the financial field.

The capital "good air" and Shanghai, the largest city in China, are antipodal points located at both ends of the earth.

Argentina is a highly urbanized country, with 92% people living in cities, and the ten largest cities accommodate half of the country’s population. The capital Buenos Aires has a population of about 3 million, and the entire Greater Buenos Aires Metropolitan Area has about 13 million residents, ranking among the top 20 in the world. At the same time, Buenos Aires is also the economic center of Argentina, accounting for about half of the country’s gross national product.

The name of the capital Buenos Aires means "good air" in Spanish. Coincidentally, the antipodal point of this largest city and trade port in Argentina is the largest city and trade port in China. Antiplantar points, that is, points located at both ends of the earth’s diameter. These two largest cities from different cultures are far away from each other at the two ends of the earth, and the two seasons are just the opposite, with a time difference of 12 hours. Trade between the two countries has developed steadily through these two important cities and ports. According to the statistics of China Customs, the bilateral trade volume in 2013 was US$ 14.84 billion. At present, Albania is China’s fifth largest trading partner in Latin America and China is the second largest trading partner in the world. China mainly exports mechanical equipment, electrical appliances and electronic products, computers and communication equipment, motorcycles, textiles and garments, and mainly imports commodities such as soybeans, soybean oil, crude oil and leather.

Pay attention to etiquette and like drinking tea: Chinese and Arab cultures have something in common.

China is a famous country of etiquette and tea. In this regard, Argentina and China are very similar.

Argentina has a warm and open Latin charm, but also a country that attaches great importance to etiquette. Being rude in public will lose the respect of Argentines. On formal occasions, argentines pay attention to cleanliness and neatness. Under normal circumstances, whether on an official visit or going out, men must wear suits and women should wear dresses or long skirts. You can’t choose chrysanthemums when sending flowers, because they make people sad and are used in funerals. Although separated by oceans, Argentines’ insistence on etiquette and culture is exactly the same as that of Chinese.

Like Chinese, drinking tea is an indispensable part of Argentine life. Argentina’s specialty "yerba mate" is praised as "national treasure" and "national tea" by Argentina. In the local language, "yerba mate" means "fairy grass" and "God-given tea". When drinking tea, a special yerba mate pot with a straw, a spoon and a filter should be used to make tea. A group of relatives and friends sit together, passing the yerba mate pot and sharing the hot yerba mate, and talking happily. After drinking, add hot water and continue to talk while drinking. Tea culture in yerba mate has become a part of Argentine culture.

Chinese supermarkets are blooming everywhere in Argentina.

Chinese moved to Argentina for a hundred years. When China and Afghanistan established diplomatic relations in 1972, there were only 700 overseas Chinese in Afghanistan. After years of friendly exchanges and mutual migration between the two countries, by 2012, there were 120,000 overseas Chinese in Afghanistan. Overseas Chinese in Argentina have made positive contributions to Argentina’s economic development and social progress.

Overseas Chinese in Argentina are mainly engaged in the supermarket industry, with the number of supermarkets reaching about 10,000 and the annual sales reaching about 6 billion US dollars, occupying an important position in the retail industry in Argentina. Integration into the local society has always been a decisive factor in the rapid development of Chinese supermarkets in Argentina, because most Chinese supermarkets are located in residential areas, selling mainly food and daily necessities, which are very close to people’s lives, and Chinese owners and neighbors live together day and night, which makes Chinese supermarkets a part of local people’s daily life on the one hand and an indispensable member of local society on the other.