Premier to attend virtual G20 leaders' summit

Premier Li Qiang, at the invitation of the government of India, will attend the Virtual G20 Leaders' Summit on Wednesday, a gathering that is expected to consolidate consensus and send a positive signal to address global challenges through cooperation.

In the face of the volatile international situation and sluggish global economic recovery, it is necessary for the G20 to reinforce partnerships and make positive contributions to world economic recovery and global common development, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said on Tuesday.

During the closing session of the New Delhi G20 Summit in September, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the hosting of the virtual summit.

The virtual summit will take forward key outcomes and action points from the New Delhi summit as well as review developments since then, according to the website of the G20.

It is also expected to push for effective implementation of various G20 decisions, the website said.

In another development, Mao said at Tuesday's regular news conference that China and Argentina have strong economic complementarity and huge potential for cooperation, and bilateral relations have shown sound momentum.

Her remark came after a question from a reporter who said that Diana Mondino, principal adviser on foreign affairs of Argentine President-elect Javier Milei, told Russia's RIA Novosti news agency that the Argentine government would stop interacting with the Chinese government on trade.

Mao said that the reporter's characterization of Mondino's remarks is different from the interview published on RIA Novosti website.

The spokeswoman said Mondino had said that the outside world has some misunderstandings about Milei's foreign policies, and that no countries could step out of diplomatic relations and still be able to engage in economic trade and cooperation.

It would be a huge foreign policy mistake for Argentina to cut ties with major countries like China or Brazil, Mao quoted Mondino as saying.

Mao also said Beijing is an important trading partner for Buenos Aires, and the newly elected Argentine government attaches great importance to relations with China.

China is willing to continue working together with Argentina to promote the stability and long-term development of bilateral ties, the spokeswoman said.

China is the second-largest trading partner of Argentina and the largest import market for the country's agricultural products.