Scores of wine businesses from China and Argentina tasted success at the ongoing China International Import Expo, as an online matchmaking event focused on the industry took place on Friday.

Part of the Trade and Investment Matchmaking Conference at the third CIIE, the China-Argentina wine session aimed to provide a cooperation platform for the business communities from the two countries, according to Bank of China, a co-host of the event.

The two countries are complementary in economics and have enormous potential in cooperation, said Wang Bingnan, vice-minister of commerce.

Wang said he welcomes more Argentine companies to join the CIIE and bring more quality products to the Chinese and global markets.

"China would like to work with Argentina to enhance business matchmaking via international cooperation platforms like the CIIE, in a bid to ensure the smooth operation of the supply and industrial chains for win-win results," he said.

Despite the pandemic, the bilateral trade between the two countries bucked trends and still managed to realize growth.

China surpassed Brazil to become the largest trading partner of Argentina in April. Between January and August, China imported wine worth $17.48 million from Argentina, an increase of 9.5 percent from the same period last year.

To boost the growth momentum, the Argentine Productive Development Ministry recommended some 20 reputable wineries and distributors.

Such a matchmaking event helps expand bilateral cooperation and exchanges, while creating more opportunities for Argentine businesses to enter the Chinese market with huge potential, said Matias Kulfas, Argentina's minister of productive development.

Wang Jiang, governor of BOC, said the banking group has been advancing China-Argentina economic cooperation. It established a Buenos Aires branch in 2019, expanding its business in the Latin American country.

BOC will continue capitalizing on its strengths in globalization and its comprehensive business portfolio, serving national strategies, furthering innovation in financial services and providing a financial bridge to link Chinese and Argentine businesses to boost their cooperation, he said.

The China-Argentina matchmaking session lasted nearly three hours. Participating companies conducted almost 100 rounds of business talks.

Because of the pandemic, it has become more difficult to seek and settle import channels, said a Chinese wine trader surnamed Ni.

"The China-Argentina matchmaking event has helped us make contact with wine suppliers," he said. He added that BOC provides convenient financial services including foreign exchange and settlement.

The Global SME Matchmaking System, developed by BOC, provided crucial technical support for the event. For example, it enabled online communications with a smooth teleconferencing service.

The system has been applied to 70 business matchmaking events worldwide, assisting 30,000 small－and medium-sized enterprises from 125 countries and regions with their market expansion and it has gained wide acclaim in the international business community.