Argentina invites China's president to attend regional summit

Argentina's President Alberto Fernandez invited his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, on Wednesday to attend the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) Summit on Jan. 24.

Fernandez said he was "pleased" to invite Xi as a "special guest, to participate in the VII Summit of Heads of State and Government of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC), which will take place in the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, on January 24, 2023," according to a published letter to the Chinese leader that was shared by the Infobae newspaper.

Xi is believed not to have ruled out his participation at the summit.

Fernandez's invitation comes as XI seeks to deepen China's geopolitical footprint across the region, notably through several soft loans, infrastructure projects and foreign trade deals.

Fernandez and Xi have maintained close relations with both nations agreeing to a $5 billion currency exchange on the sidelines of a G20 summit in November while both nations inked a deal for the construction of two nuclear power plants in Argentina.

In July, China publicly backed Argentina's bid for membership in the BRICS bloc of emerging economies which includes Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.

In February, Argentina announced an expansion of a currency swap with China by $3 billion which followed Fernandez's vista to China and Argentina joined the multi-trillion dollar Belt and Road Initiative.

Last year, both nations celebrated the 50th anniversary of established diplomatic relations between Buenos Aires and Beijing.