Xi says China supports Argentina's G20 presidency, economic stability

BEIJING - Chinese President Xi Jinping and his Argentine counterpart Mauricio Macri on Friday exchanged letters with their views on bilateral ties, the Group of 20 (G20) Summit and the current economic and financial situation in Argentina.

In the letter, Xi said that Macri participated in the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation held in Beijing last year and paid a successful state visit to China.

The consensuses reached by the two sides during Macri's visit has been effectively implemented, and exchanges and cooperation in various fields between the two countries have been steadily moving forward, Xi said.

Xi added that he highly values the development of China-Argentina relations and is willing to work with Macri to continue guiding the development of bilateral ties, steadily advance major projects and promote the China-Argentina comprehensive strategic partnership to a higher level.

China firmly supports Argentina's G20 presidency for 2018 and is willing to strengthen coordination with Argentina to properly handle the tone and direction of the summit, stick to multilateralism, strengthen global governance, and build an open world economy, so as to make the summit a success, Xi said.

For his part, Macri said in his letter that the Argentina-China comprehensive strategic partnership has become increasingly close and achieved fruitful results.

Argentina fully supports jointly building the Belt and Road Initiative and is willing to enhance all-round cooperation with China, Macri said.

While holding the G20 presidency, Argentina will continue the consensus and results achieved at the 2016 G20 Summit held in the Chinese city of Hangzhou, he said.

Meanwhile, Macri briefed Xi on the economic and financial situation in Argentina, which has been facing economic difficulties. He also elaborated on measures taken to solve the problems.

Xi said some emerging markets including Argentina that were affected recently by external factors are facing new challenges to their domestic economic environment.

China firmly supports Argentina's endeavors to maintaining its stability and development and is willing to provide assistance to its best capability, Xi added.

China believes that Argentina can overcome temporary difficulties and achieve long-term stable, heathy and sustainable development in its economy, Xi said, stressing that China has confidence in Argentina's development and the future of bilateral ties.