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One of the most decisive ways in which the global economy and power relations were transformed at dawn of the twenty-first century was the rise of China as a major power, as well as the consequent influence the country has been able to exercise over peripheral nations. Although the majority of administrations in Latin America have rejected the policies once hailed by the Washington Consensus, it is striking that they have largely accepted a new system of asymmetrical relations with another major world power, which is fostering the reprimarization of the productive structure in Latin American economies. Thus, beginning with the case of Argentina, this paper explores the path to what is now known as the Beijing Consensus, with an emphasis on a characterization based on the analysis provided below. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Starting from the profound transformations in the Argentine economy in recent years, this paper analyzes the evolution of trade specialization patterns, due to their effects on the long-term sustainability of economic growth and income distribution. This shows that, although a strong expansion in exports has been seen recently, the pattern of trade specialization continues to reflect a concentrated profile of primary goods and manufactures with low-level technology and job content. In other words, there has still been no structural transformation in the competitiveness of sectors unassociated with natural resources, compared with those that make abundant use of them. However, this phenomenon is taking place in a context where important modifications are occurring in the distribution of trade balances with different partners, where China is starting to acquire an important role. At the same time, the study points to the relationship between these modifications and the evolution of the pattern of specialization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]