The Catamarca Governor, Raul Jalilthe lieutenant governor, Ruben Roberto Dussoand the Argentine ambassador in Beijing, Sabino Vaca Narvajasigned with the president of the Chinese mining company JinYuan, Xu Gang, a cooperation agreement to industrialize the lithium value chain in the northern province of Argentina. Likewise, during the event that took place in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, the acquisition by the company of the entire “Laguna Caro” project in Catamarca territory was announced.
The signed agreement is part of the promotion policy of lithium industrialization promoted jointly by the Embassy in China and the province of Catamarca with three fundamental pillars: promote national industrial development, generate genuine employment and increase exports of technological goods.
The Chinese company informed the local press accredited for the event that it plans to reach a total production of 50,000 tons in Argentina in the next two years, which would be equivalent to exports for a total of 3,500 million dollars.
According to what was negotiated by the ambassador and the governor of Catamarca, the agreement stipulates the technology transfer from China to Argentina, an essential requirement for the validity of the agreement signed this Monday. In this sense, during the meeting, Vaca Narvaja stated: “We must work with China to exploit our reserves of this new white gold. China is the only world player that totally dominates the lithium chain. We have totally complementary economies: when one looks at the reserves that exist in the Province of Catamarca and the know-how that China has in lithium, it is clear that the way forward is this type of cooperation agreement that allows us to guarantee access to international reserves. , give quality work to our people and join the train of development”.
“Companies of Chinese origin refine more than two thirds of the lithium in the world and They totally dominate the technology. It would be a serious mistake not to sign this type of agreement,” remarked the Argentine ambassador, who added: “We must continue cooperating with China to achieve our energy transformation and, at the same time, consolidate national economic growth.”
In his turn, also accompanied by his mining minister Marcelo Murúa, Governor Raúl Jalil highlighted the current conditions of the Province of Catamarca for foreign investors and reviewed the investments of Chinese origin that the Province currently has. He also argued that Catamarca “continues to occupy the first place in the generation of private employment at the national level in part thanks to mining” and that in Catamarca there are already “schools that teach Chinese language to primary school students, which shows that cooperation with China is part of a long-term plan.”
“More and more investors are interested in the reserves available in Catamarca, because of their exceptional conditions and, above all, because of the favorable environment for investments offered by the provincial territory,” said Jalil, who added: “Catamarca wants to be part of Industry 4.0 and we believe that the bridges that we can build between our Province, the Argentine Embassy in China and the Chinese people will make it possible for each person from Catamarca to participate in this transformation that is taking place worldwide”.
Finally, the governor who participated telematically from Catamarca highlighted the synergies between the provincial government and the national government in terms of mining policy that facilitate the arrival of more and more investments in this area.
Chinese companies are already industrializing lithium in Argentina. For example, the Chinese company Gothion is about to start manufacturing batteries in the province of Jujuy. On the other hand, the auto cherry It has already reported that it will manufacture electric cars in the country and has plans to export them to other Mercosur countries.
Hangzhou, the capital of Zhejiang Province, has a population of almost 9 million inhabitants and, in addition to the mining companies that operate in the city, the city is a leader in the digital economy. The most thriving sectors in the city include e-commerce, cloud computing and big data. It is home to several leading companies in these areas, such as Alibaba, NetEase and Hikvision.
Likewise, last year, within the framework of the relationship plan at the subnational level promoted by the Argentine Embassy in China, a twinning agreement was signed with the Argentine city of Córdoba. In this sense, the Embassy reported that it is continuing its subnational relationship scheme that enables Argentine provinces to directly relate to their Chinese peers specialized in different areas to consolidate business and investment opportunities.
JinYuan is a Chinese company listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange. It has three main businesses, building materials, environmental protection and new energy. It has more than 4,000 employees, 1.5 billion dollars in assets and annual revenues of 150 million dollars..
