In the trade war between the United States and China, everything indicates that Argentina made the decision to stay out of the crack and play at two ends.Is that there is much money in dispute to belittle one of these two powers. In fact, the Asian giant's investment in Latin America has skyrocketed in recent years. So much so that it exceeded US $ 90,000 million in the last decade, according to data from the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC).In this context, Mauricio Macri - beyond the links with his US counterpart Donald Trump - continues the rapprochement with the second global economy initiated in times of Kirchnerism. "The more China develops, the better it will go to the Argentines," the president sums up.According to ECLAC, the country commanded by Xi Jinping has been the largest investor in the "neighborhood", considering mergers and acquisitions. As for the items, although energy and transportation rank high among their preferences, in recent years this binomial has been annexed to technology, a phenomenon that extends to Argentina.In search of SMEs and Argentine talent"They mainly target SMEs with knowledge-based developments, and a year of research and training is underway, with universities and growing in join ventures," says iProUP Raul Ochoa, of the Argentine Council for International Relations (CARI).He adds: "The takeoff will take place in no more than a year, or maybe before." In his vision, "the business model points to local developments that need scale."They are investing in Argentine talent to exploit the local factor and add their own know-how," says Ochoa."Although the investments of Chinese companies are accompanied by the entire product, as in the oil and logistics industries, we see that they are betting on Argentine companies," agrees Francisco Uranga, CEO of the Argentine Investment Agency, to iProUP.The expert provides some examples:- "Tencent invested in Satellogic, which recently launched a nanosatellite and is inserting its product globally."- "Huawei invested U.S. $ 20 million in a training center in Argentina"- "ZTE did the same by contributing US $ 18 million to install a surveillance center in Jujuy".Uranga anticipated iProUP part of what is coming: "We are setting up a mission to China, in conjunction with ARCAP, to see potential investments in Argentine companies in the embryonic phase, and to create funds for the development of venture capital.""Argentine talent is recognized worldwide for its entrepreneurial spirit, and the Asian giant values ââwhat is being done locally in science and technology.""Investments are growing, in some areas faster, in Fintech we see tremendous potential, since China has a very developed ecosystem, also in agtech, due to the enormous agricultural and technological possibilities. interesting part ", completes.Electronics and household itemsRadio Victoria is an Argentine company located in Tierra del Fuego that is dedicated to the production and marketing of electronics and appliances. It opened its doors in 1947 and in the following decades it partnered with international firms such as Hitachi, IBM and LG to distribute its devices in the country.In 2004 it agreed with the Chinese TCL to manufacture and market the products in albiceleste territory. The relationship grew to such an extent that they already operate jointly under the name Radio Victoria TCL Argentina.In dialogue with iProUP, the president of Radio Victoria, Enrique Jurkowski, explains why - for the first time in almost eight decades - they decided to add a foreign investor as a partner."The center of global technological development moved to China, the electronics took a dynamic and scale such that simplifying everything to a license-dealer type relationship was left behind, and we mutually agreed to go one step further, since we understand that it is the only way to be more efficient, lower costs and compete globally, "he explains.The agreement solidified after a millionaire investment of TCL, the third world television manufacturer. The Asian paid 25 million dollars to become 15% of the shareholding of the Argentine firm.According to Jurkowski, this union allowed them to shorten product development times, reduce expenses and become more competitive, which translated into the expansion of their exports to Chile and Uruguay."The capital increase that TCL made was, in fact, a more strategic than financial bet, today we have very specialized Chinese technicians who work in the heart of the Tierra del Fuego factory in the development of products, processes and optimization of assemblies. They see the needs, bring knowledge and ask for the resources that China needs, "says Jurkowski.In addition, he emphasizes that nowadays to develop products it is necessary to have software applications from third parties, such as Android and iOS. "The reality is that any manufacturer can not have access to these things, the key is global companies, so without TCL we could not continue to develop," he adds.Beyond the advantages that this Chinese investment had in an Argentine company, from Radio Victoria they also assure that the association benefits TCL. "They have the world power, but we have knowledge of the domestic market, the factory, the customers and how to navigate in the midst of economic instability and the uncertainty of the dollar." To be global, you have to be local in each place ", concludes Jurkowski.Startups and digital payment platformsBeyond investing in large companies such as Radio Victoria, Chinese capitals are focusing on local ventures. One of the many cases is that of Ripio, an Argentine fintech that created a digital exchange house that allows the purchase of virtual currencies through a virtual wallet.In dialogue with iProUP, Sebastián Serrano, cofounder and CEO of Ripio, says that Chinese investment materialized in 2017, four years after the founding of his company."The investment round closed for 2.3 million dollars, led by the Asian Digital Finance Group fund, and the Chinese firm Fenbushi Capital also participated," he details.According to Serrano, this disbursement meant a "key support" in the growth and penetration in new markets, such as Mexico and Brazil."With the capital contribution of the Chinese, we were able to plan the expansion towards the rest of Latin America," he says. In fact, the company already has employees in its offices in Buenos Aires, San Pablo and Mexico City.According to James Wo, CEO of Digital Finance Group, the fund chose an Argentine startup to be part of the development of "financial solutions for emerging countries".The final objective is more than clear: to expand digital payment services in those economies that are not very well-funded, such as Latin American ones.Fintech SectorThe investments of the Asian giant are growing at an accelerated pace in the technology sector, both in Argentina and in Latin America. The following examples are eloquent proof of this incursion:- Tencent, the most powerful Internet firm in China and the fifth in the world (even ahead of Facebook) allocated a whopping US $ 180 million in Nubank, the most important digital bank in the region- Xiaomi, heavyweight in the manufacture of a wide range of products, including cell phones, already operates in the main cities of Chile, Brazil and Mexico- Mobike, a platform to rent bicycles and move them anywhere in a city, began offering its services in the trans-Andean country and in the Aztec- Alipay, the payment platform of Alibaba - the Chinese e-commerce giant - has partnered with Openpay, a Mexican payment services startup, previously acquired by BBVAThe enumeration of examples could continue in this maze of capital contributions, landings and Chinese mergers in Latin America."The diplomatic work of the Asian power is considered" horizontal "in all the countries of the region and leads to economic agreements and geopolitical projection, given the interests it has in Latin America," Pablo Kornblum, economist and doctor of international relations, explains to iProUP ."The search for strategic natural resources, the realization of infrastructure works and an advance in technological penetration means that they do not distinguish borders," he explains.When quantifying the percentage of disbursements in the different areas, Kornblum points out that there are companies that are strictly "technological" -like Huawei-but that develop "advances of last generation", for example, in the financial sector."What is happening in Argentina, as in other countries, shows a very strategic relationship between the Asian giant in the region," Ignacio Carballo, an economist and specialist in financial inclusion, told iProUP.The obligatory question is why the Chinese themselves determined that this relationship was important if their country is precisely the one that leads technological exports worldwide.For the international analysts consulted, there are underlying geopolitical reasons, based on the interest of the eastern nation to gain space in energy, agriculture and infrastructure and that this place is not occupied by other powers."For these three sectors, China already had mature relations with the governments of the region, followed by financial integration and now technological integration," adds Carballo.There is also the hypothesis that Latin America is experiencing problems that the Asian giant overcame a decade ago."The problems of lack of banking services and lack of credit occur in a context in which the mobile telephony market is the second fastest growing in the world and Latin Americans quickly become adopters of new technologies," says Carballo.At first sight, Chinese investments mean an advance for companies and users. However, analysts suggest caution. In this sense, Kornblum highlights: "There may be problems derived from investments in sensitive technologies."For example, the installation of a space base in Neuquén that depends on the Chinese People's Army generated unrest in the United States due to its eventual dual use and the possibility of intercepting satellites."We must avoid a potential conflict of geopolitical interests within Argentina's borders between the two main armed forces of the planet, with unpredictable consequences, even in military terms, for our country," concludes Kornblum.