A friend and colleague flagged Simon Hall’s fascinating account of China’s growing influence in Argentina in yesterday’s WSJ:

Argentina has been shut out of international credit markets for years following its sovereign default in late 2001. Mrs. Kirchner said China is offering a kind of low-rate financing “that doesn’t exist anywhere in the world.”
China’s state-run Xinhua news agency reported that during the visit the two countries signed six bilateral cooperation contracts, including ones for Argentina’s construction of a light-rail system and subway system. It said China will provide export credits to Argentina for purchases of locomotives. The report didn’t list an amount or say where the funds for the deal would come from. China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs didn’t respond to a request to comment Tuesday afternoon.

This reminds me of Brad DeLong and Stephen S. Cohen’s excellent book The End of Influence, which I strongly recommend. I wrote about the book in a column titled “The Revenge of Mercantilism” (sorry for linking to myself twice in one day, guys — good grief). As more affluent countries succumb to extreme indebtedness, one wonders how much power and influence the surplus economies will accrue through “unequal treaties” not unlike this new agreement between China and Argentina.