The construction of power that Massa stars in is not a personal and solitude activity
(Special envoy to Beijing) Sergio Massa is already in Beijing to complete his whirlwind tour of China. In the next 48 hours, the Minister of Economy will negotiate the opening of new markets for the provincial economies, will sign investments in public works contemplated in the Silk Road program and will renew the 18.5 billion dollar swap that strengthens the reserves of the Central bank.
Unlike the stage in Shanghai, which had a financial and economic pre-eminence, this chapter of the Asia tour revolves around the power relations that Massa is building with the Xi Jinping administration.
The economy minister will be received by the main forces of the communist party apparatus, which demonstrates Beijing’s interest in Argentina and the fluid diplomatic contacts of Sabino Vaca Narvaja, ambassador to China.
But the construction of power that Massa stars in is not a personal and solitude activity. Máximo Kirchner, with the weight of his last name and his presidency in the Buenos Aires justicialista party, strengthens Massa’s strategy in pursuit of deepening bilateral relations.
For the communist nomenclature, which decides the levels of investment and geopolitical support -for example in the IMF- it is not a small thing that the son of the president who brought China closer to Argentina is in Beijing leading his own political agenda.
In this context, the presence of Cecilia Moreau also adds to the moment of negotiating the opening of the markets or the extension of the free availability of the swap.
Sergio Massa and Máximo Kirchner met with Dilma Rousseff in Shanghai to negotiate the support of the BRICS for Argentina
It is that Moreau is the head of the Chamber of Deputies, and for the Chinese bureaucracy that means that the national legislator close to Massa occupies the third place in the presidential succession and heads a state power.
In China, power relations and institutional allocations have a different significance than the perspective usually applied in domestic politics.
On his first day in Beijing, Massa will meet with the Minister of Commerce, Wang Wentao, with authorities from the Chinese Foreign Ministry and with the Eximbank, which is the Chinese development bank. These three contacts aim to expand the markets for products linked to the provincial economies and deepen bilateral relations.
On Friday, Massa completes an agenda that will have a huge impact on the national economy. That day, the head of the Palacio de Hacienda will sign at least seven public works projects that make up the Silk Road program, will close the swap extension and increase its freely available rate, and will hold a key meeting with the Finance Minister.
Before arriving in Beijing, Massa and Máximo Kirchner met with Dilma Rousseff to advance a financial mechanism that allows the BRICS to invest in Argentina. Also present at the meeting were the head of the Central Bank, Miguel Pesce, and Marco Lavagna, Secretary of Economic Affairs of the Palacio de Hacienda.
BRICS are Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, which created and capitalized the New Development Bank (NBD), run by Rousseff until she is succeeded in 2025.
In a zoom that connected Buenos Aires with Shanghai a week ago, Rousseff told Massa that there was a possible mechanism that would allow the NDB to be used to finance investments and exports, and the head of the Palacio de Hacienda did not hesitate to delay his trip to Beijing to listen. the technical, multilateral and political proposal.
Massa’s conclave with Rousseff tries to mimic the political gaffe committed by Lula da Silva against Alberto Fernández, who believed that Brazil could achieve a reform to the BRICS statute tailored to the needs of Argentina in the face of the economic crisis that devours its reserves and accelerates monthly inflation.
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Sergio Massa and Máximo Kirchner met with Dilma Rousseff in Shanghai to negotiate the support of the BRICS for ArgentinaChinese companies will be able to invest in yuan in ArgentinaSergio Massa obtained in Shanghai close to 1,000 million dollars in investments and disbursements that will strengthen the reserves of the central bank