City in Argentina turns sister-city relations into playbook for growth

Quilmes, a city part of the sprawling Buenos Aires metropolitan area in Argentina, is using diplomacy with Chinese cities as a practical tool for local development, betting that "friendly relations" and community ties can translate into education links, technology cooperation and new investment.

Mayor Mayra Mendoza said in an interview that Quilmes is building formal partnerships with sister cities in China while expanding public-facing programs that connect residents with the local Chinese community. She pointed to Quilmes' "friendly relations" memorandum with Mianyang in Sichuan province and follow-on engagement that has included the visit of a delegation to Mianyang in 2024 tied to education and broader exchanges.

"Quilmes' connection with China is an active tool for the district's economic development and international integration," Mendoza said, adding that cooperation projects being discussed for 2026 include initiatives in education, technology and investment.

Mendoza said Quilmes is in advanced discussions with its sister cities of Mianyang and Nanchang to implement projects.

The push comes as economic ties between Argentina and China continue to grow. Argentina's official statistics agency, INDEC, said China accounted for 11.3 percent of Argentine exports and 23.4 percent of its imports over the first 11 months of 2025.

For Mendoza, that national backdrop matters, but for her, it starts at street level: relationships work when residents can see them, touch them and benefit from them.

In Quilmes, she said, cultural programming has become one of the most direct ways to reduce prejudice and strengthen bonds between communities, making international ties feel local rather than abstract.

She described Quilmes as an "intercultural municipality", shaped by waves of migration which are central to the district's identity.

Mendoza said festivals and community events provide a recurring, public space for meetings and exchanges. She highlighted Latidos China, a festival that she said attracts thousands of people and presents Chinese culture through gastronomy, music and traditions.

Diverse cultures

"Learning about the cultures of the diverse communities that make up our district is a key opportunity to highlight and value the history and immense contribution to local development that the Chinese community makes every day," she said.

In her view, Latidos China is designed to do what policy statements alone cannot: create familiarity, reduce stereotypes and build trust through shared experiences. She said the festival "stands as a key tool for strengthening the social fabric", and described it as important in the fight against discrimination and xenophobia while promoting intercultural dialogue and integration.

The festival also functions as a "living bridge" with the Chinese community, Mendoza said, by drawing a massive and diverse audience from across Quilmes. That turnout, she said, creates a common ground for meeting and exchange and helps reaffirm interculturalism as a constitutive element of the district's identity.

While city-to-city ties and cultural outreach form the front end of Quilmes' engagement with China, Mendoza said the municipality is also trying to convert community connections into measurable improvements in public services. She pointed to an initiative called Eco-Supermarket, which turns Chinese-owned supermarkets into neighborhood recycling drop-off points.

Mendoza said the program connects municipal government, a retail network and neighborhood residents. According to her, the point is not simply to add another recycling program, but to redesign how recycling works in a way that is easier for residents and more efficient for the city.

"The Eco-Supermarket program has been met with great enthusiasm and active participation from Chinese supermarket owners," she said, describing an initiative that is still in its implementation phase. The program involves about 100 businesses in the district.

Those stores, Mendoza said, have institutional support from the municipality and the private sector to begin operating as a decentralized collection network for recyclable materials.

As far as neighbors and local business owners are concerned, these projects and the relationship with the Chinese community come with a lot of positives.

"They have become good neighbors. They all help each other on the block when there is a problem," Cecilia, who owns a veterinary clinic on the same block as a Chinese supermarket, said. She has owned the clinic for five years.

"It's so lovely to see how they integrate into the local customs, and in turn, we learn from the (Chinese) culture."

The writer is a freelance journalist for China Daily.