BUENOS AIRES -- Visiting Chinese Commerce Minister Chen Deming called on Argentina and China Thursday to make efforts to ease trade frictions and expand mutually beneficial cooperation.

China and Argentina are now important trading partners, said Chen, who arrived here from Washington, where he had attended the just-concluded China-US Strategic and Economic Dialogue.

Bilateral trade grew by 53.9 percent in the first quarter of this year, Chen said here at an entrepreneur luncheon attended by more than 200 businessmen from both Argentina and China.

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Citing reports by the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) and the Inter-American Development Bank, Chen said that China's economic growth was an important factor behind the economic recovery of Latin America.

The minister said the economies of Argentina and China are complementary rather than competitive, particularly regarding product mix, markets and absorption of foreign investment.

Both Argentina and China are developing countries, which are facing pressure from increasingly fierce international competition, he said.

Therefore, the two sides need to focus on making the most of their complementary advantages instead of competing against each other as well as try to expand mutually beneficial cooperation and achieve win-win results, he said.

Chen said the two sides have recently made great efforts in trying to avoid malignant competition and ease trade frictions, and significant achievements have been made.

The governments of both Argentina and China have made efforts to promote exchanges and dialogues between the business circles of the two sides, trying to solve disputes in the field of trade remedies through consultation and cooperation, he said.

Argentine Foreign Minister Hector Timerman said that China is not only Argentina's second largest trading partner, but also an important source of foreign investment for the country.

Chinese investment in Argentina has totaled more than $14 billion, covering various areas such as petroleum, natural gas, the chemical industry, mining and the manufacture of household electrical appliances, he said.

Timerman said that while emerging markets are growing stronger, the world economy is still affected by the financial crisis, which provides rare opportunities for the two sides to boost their trade and economic cooperation.

He called on the business circles of the two sides to explore more cooperation opportunities to strengthen the strategic partnership between China and Argentina.

Chen arrived here Wednesday for a visit aimed at strengthening the bilateral strategic partnership and consolidating Sino-Argentine trade relations.

Chen was accompanied by some 80 Chinese entrepreneurs from a wide range of industries, including automobile, agriculture, infrastructure, telecommunications, chemical, electricity and finance industries.

This was the first visit by a Chinese commerce minister in seven years.

Sino-Argentine trade has grown rapidly over recent years.