| This dissertation analyzes the Chinese investments in the context of globalization and post State reform in Argentina.During the last twenty years,China has become a major global investor,and according to the World Bank,has provided more than 30 percent of the global growth during the period.The Chinese investment has increased significantly,becoming a strategic source of resources for developing countries.In Argentina,China has intensified considerably the number of investments that went from a total amount of US 12 million in 2002 to a total amount of US 23 billion ten years later.In order to answer how the reforms shaped the impacts and performances of Chinese investment in Argentina,this research is based on the Neo-structuralist theory that provides a complex understanding of the politics and economy through the historical and international analysis.In this way,we consider crucial the process of economic reforms after the end of the Cold War and its influence on the economic performance of the countries.Since the 1970s,the Argentine governments seek to apply a set of State reforms that were made basically from 1989 to 1999.In this sense,we call reform to all those processes of political and economic changes that affected Argentina’s national State.The results of these policies were,mainly,less power to regulate and control foreign investments,less capacity to implement and integrate policies regarding the productive system.Eventually,these reforms had negatives consequences for the State,which have loosed the capacity for designing long-term policies.We understand that the reform has an explicit impact on the crisis of 2001.Therefore,we called here the post reform period,characterized by the crisis and degradation of the State at the beginning of the 21st century.In this way,the absence of policies and the lack of State capacity to attract and articulate the FDI into the economic domestic cycle resulted in an unexpected consequence:the harm of the foreign investment in the country.We consider the beginning of the bilateral relations in 1972 as an important milestone for the shared history of both countries.Since that moment,the two governments have developed political and economic cooperation,based on mutual respect.It is possible to trace a gradual strength during the decades after the normalization of diplomatic ties.However,the economic networks started to increase constantly,during the 1990s.After the agreement of the Strategic Alliance in 2004,it became a priority for both countries.In the same period,commerce went from US 1.6 billion in 1999 to US 13.5 billion in 2008,when the international crisis affected these trends.Likewise,the agreements signed during this period supported Chinese investments,mainly in three sectors:mining,infrastructure,and energy.Our analysis shows that these investments not only focused on infrastructure and raw materials but also they are made by State-Owned Companies.We note that in several cases,the Chinese State played an active role in the investments.Therefore,the Chinese government became the first speaker for the negotiations.Even though Chinese investment has been criticized by some scholars,we found that they had a total positive balance.Chinese investment has generated jobs,improved the infrastructure and the exchange rates.On the other hand,the Chinese government offers facilities for investment,flexible loans,and other incentives,according to the situation of Latin America and Argentina.Finally,we argue that Chinese investments could improve Argentina’s productive sector,particularly focusing on export to the Chinese market.The Latin American country suffered a large imbalance of payment that could be improved by investments in strategic sectors.To achieve this objective and boost economic relations,there are several challenges to note.On the Chinese side,it is necessary to understand the particularities of Argentina’s situation and the absence of a valid actor,such as the State,that cannot always guarantee the conditions of investment.Meanwhile,on the Argentine side,the government has to consider the importance of relations between public actors,as well as long-term policies to invest. |
