Argentina and China deepen cooperation in space, nuclear and defense industries

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The Argentine Ambassador to the People’s Republic of China, Sabino Vaca Narvaja, met with the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology of that country, Zhang Kejian, and both officials agreed to deepen “cooperation in space material, nuclear energy, and the defense industry”.

The Vice Minister is the head of the China National Space Administration (CNSA), the China Atomic Energy Authority (CAEA) and the State Administration of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense, areas whose problems were discussed at the meeting, the Foreign Ministry said in a statement last night.

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During the meeting, Ambassador Vaca Narvaja and Vice Minister Zhang exchanged views on the state of “cooperation between the two countries and outlined the next steps for future cooperation”.

At the meeting, China expressed its interest in “Argentine scientists having access to the lunar soil and rock samples taken in the last mission of that country (in which Argentina provided support) and likewise to participate in the analysis of the data provided by the next missions to the Moon, Mars, and Jupiter”.

For his part, the Argentine ambassador stressed Argentina’s interest “in deepening cooperation in the space area and in promoting negotiations to conclude the signing of the 2021-2025 Space Cooperation Plan, which covers different areas of cooperation such as space science, deep space exploration, Earth observation, and satellites”.

Likewise, the meeting highlighted “the role of human resources training for long-term cooperation. China offered postgraduate, master and doctorate scholarships for studies in the space, nuclear and defense industry areas”.

Vaca Narvaja also highlighted “the important role Argentine satellite companies such as Satellogic and SpaceSur are playing in the Chinese space market”.

As regards nuclear energy cooperation, the Argentine ambassador presented “local capabilities in the area, highlighting the important development of multipurpose research reactors”, according to official information.

Both agreed on the importance of the project for constructing a Hualong 1 nuclear power plant in Argentina, highlighting “the role that nuclear energy can play in the reduction of carbon emissions”.

Finally, in the area of the defense industry, issues related to “current projects underway were addressed, and it was stressed that for Argentina, it is important” that all initiatives “have technology and capabilities transfer to the country’s defense companies”.

In this regard, China expressed that they are willing “to produce in Argentina and generate a transfer of technologies and capabilities”.

Finally, Zhang added that “China is interested in seeing greater cooperation in the area of technology transfer in the bilateral relationship in the space, nuclear and defense areas and that its interest is not in a particular project but in building a long-term virtuous relationship that benefits the development of both countries”.

Vaca Narvaja emphasized that “the issues addressed not only occupy a central and strategic place in the bilateral relationship but also play a vital role as drivers of development in areas with very high added value and intensive in knowledge”.