Argentine Foreign Minister Santiago Cafiero met with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi on the sidelines of the G20 in Indonesia, where Chinese support was formalized, the former’s services said.
Argentina’s government announced Thursday that it has secured China’s official support in its bid to join BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa), a coalition of emerging economic powers seen as a powerful counterweight to the West.
Argentine Foreign Minister Santiago Cafiero met with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi on the sidelines of the G20 in Indonesia, where Chinese support was formalized, the former’s services said. Argentina is a major exporter of soybeans, wheat and corn, among others.
“Wang Yi officially confirmed his country’s support for Argentina’s admission to BRICS, which is in line with what had already been agreed upon by the leaders” of the five countries, Argentina’s foreign ministry noted.
He added that if Argentina joins the group, it will “strengthen and expand its voice in defense of the interests of the developing world.”
Argentina’s president, centre-left Alberto Fernandez, had announced that his country, struggling to overcome an economic crisis with high inflation and low foreign exchange reserves, would seek to join the BRICS group. For this, unanimous approval of its members is required.
The term BRIC was coined by Jim O’Neill, an economist at Goldman Sachs, in 2001 to describe the remarkable performance of the economies of Brazil, Russia, India and China. The four powers held their first summit in 2009 in Russia. South Africa joined the group in 2010.
China is – by far – the largest economy of this alliance, accounting for more than 70% of its total economic power of 27.5 trillion. dollars. In India it accounts for about 13%, in Russia and Brazil about 7% respectively, according to IMF data.
The countries of the BRICS group account for more than 40% of the world’s population and about 26% of the world’s GDP.
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