On March 26, Local Time of Argentina (on  March   27, Beijing Time of China), Argentine President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner cordially met with Wang Degen, Chairman of Dekon Group, and his delegation at the Casa Rosada.

President Cristina first extended a warm welcome to Wang Degen and his delegation. Wang Degen said: “I am very grateful to the President for taking time out of her busy schedule to meet with me and my team.” Argentina has good natural conditions for developing agriculture and animal husbandry, and the climate, land and water resources here are very suitable for the development of agriculture and animal husbandry. However, the pig industry is a shortcoming of Argentina. If the government supports enterprises to develop the pig industry, it can not only solve employment, but also bring new growth points”.

Cristina (middle) met with Wang Degen and his delegation (six people from the left) at the Casa Rosada

Cristina said: “Argentina is not self-sufficient in pork at present. In 2008, a person consumed less than 2KG of pork per year in Argentina, but now it has grown sixfold to 12KG. I hope we can not only be self-sufficient in pork very soon, but also export it like soybeans and corn, thereby increasing the added value of Argentina’s exports”.

Wang Degen agreed with that and said: “the President is very pragmatic and trustworthy for businesses. As one of the best agriculture and animal husbandry enterprises in China, we travel to Argentina to find a cooperation point between the Chinese and Argentine markets. China has a huge consumer market, and Argentina’s agriculture has a huge potential for growth, so it is a win-win situation for us to drive the development of breeding industry in Argentina and meet the consumption needs of the Chinese and Argentine markets. It is exactly based on the same view as the President that we hope to make full use of Argentina’s advantages in raw material resources and favorable climatic conditions to develop the agriculture and animal husbandry and truly achieve a win-win situation”.

Cristina said: “the Argentine government strongly supports the development of the pig industry. We encourage our people to eat pork and improve our diet structure, and we cannot overly rely on beef, which is good for our health and industry. Argentina has a very unique natural environment, clean water, fresh air, abundant sunshine, and large areas of unpolluted land, which is very suitable for building a high-end food base. We hope that theses outstanding enterprises can bring excellent products to Chinese consumers.” Finally, Cristina humorously said: “I know Chairman Wang Degen is 43 years old this year and as young and energetic as my right-hand man, the Minister of Economy. I believe that the company you lead is also young and energetic, and I look forward to the smooth realization of our cooperation.

The Argentine Minister of Agriculture and Minister of Economy attended the meeting. Zhai Chengyu, an Economic and Commercial Counselor of the Chinese Embassy in Argentina, Bartolucci, Secretary General of Italy TWB, Yao Hailong, Wang Daojun, Kong Xianghe and Zhou Jing were present at the meeting.