Chinese President Xi Jinping (R) meets with Argentine counterpart Cristina Fernandez in St Petersburg, Russia, Sept. 5, 2013. [Photo/Xinhua]

ST PETERSBURG, Russia - Chinese President Xi Jinping and his Argentine counterpart Cristina Fernandez held talks here Thursday, pledging to explore potential for bilateral trade and investment.

Meeting with Fernandez ahead of the G20 summit to be held later in the day, Xi said that China attaches great importance to its traditional friendly ties with Argentina, and that China is willing to join hands with Argentina to enrich and expand the bilateral cooperation.

He also called for more effort to help achieve balanced expansion of the bilateral trade, explore new growth areas in investment and expand cooperation in various fields including energy, mining, hydropower, infrastructure, agriculture and finance.

Xi also urged Argentina to create a more convenient environment for Chinese enterprises to invest in the Latin American country.

The Chinese president called for more joint efforts from both sides to promote cooperation between China and Latin America at large and safeguard the overall interests of emerging economies and developing countries.

Fernandez, on her part, spoke highly of the progress of the Argentina-China strategic partnership in recent years, noting that China has become her country's second-biggest trading partner.

Argentina hopes to increase exports to China and welcomes the participation of Chinese enterprises in Argentina's major construction projects such as hydropower exploitation and railway construction, she said.

The Argentine leader also called for progress on the currency swap between the two sides.

Following their meeting, the two presidents also witnessed the signing of documents on establishing an intergovernmental standing committee and an economic dialogue mechanism.