AGREEMENT

BETWEEN
THE GOVERNMENT OF THE ARGENTINE REPUBLIC
AND
THE GOVERNMENT OF THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF C HINA
FOR
THE EXCHANGE OF INFORMATION RELA TING TO TAXES

The Govemment orthe Argentine Republic and the Govemment orthe People's Republic
of China ("the Contracting Parties"):

Acknowledging that the Conlracting Parties are competent to negotiate and concludc a
tax Înfonnation exchange agreement;

Desiring to provide a framework fOf cooperation and exchange of informat ion in tax
matters;

Agree to conclude the Agreement as follows:

ARTICLE J
SCOPE OF AGREEMENT

1. The Com petent Authorities of the Contracting Parties shall provide assistance
through exchange of Înfonnation that is foreseeably relevant to the admin istration and
enforcement of the dorncstic laws of the Contracting Parties concern ing taxes covered by
this Agreement. Such infonnation shaH include information that Îs fore seeably relevant to
the detennination, assessment, verification and collection ofsuch taxes, the reCQvery and
enforcement oftax claims, and the investigation or prosecution oftax matters.

2. Infonnation shan he exchanged in accordance with the provisions of this

Agreement and shall be treated as confidential in the manner provided in Article 8. 1
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ARTICLE 2
JURIsmCfION
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Infonnation ta he exchanged shall he provided in accordance with thls Agreement by the
Competent Authority of the Requested Party:

(a) without regard to whether the person ta whom the information relates Is a
resident, national or citizen of a Party, or whether the persan by whom the
infonnation is he Id is a rcsident, national or citizen of a Party; and
(b) provided that the infonnation is present within the territory. or in the possess ion
or control of a person subj ect to the jurisdiction, of the Requested Party .

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1 ARTICLE 3
TAXES COVERED
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The taxes covered by this Agreement are:

in the case orthe Peop!e's Republic of Chi na, ail taxes except customs tari ers;
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(hl in the case of the Argentine Republic, ail taxes adminislered by its Competent
Authority except cltstoms tarifTs. 1.,
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2. This Agreement shall also app ly to any identical or substantial1 y s imilar taxes
imposed by either Contracting Party after the date of signatu re of this Agreement in ,·
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add ition to, or in place of. any of the taxes listed in paragraph 1.
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3. The Competent Authoritics of the Contracting Parti es shall noti fy each other of

i! any relevant changes to the taxation and related infonnation gathering measures covered
by this Agreement.
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t 4. The taxes covered by this Agreement may be expanded o r modified by mulual

r, 1 agreement of the Contracting Parties.
i ARTICLE 4
DEFINITIONS
1 1. In this Agreement:

1 (a) " Ihe People's Republic orehina", when used in a geographical sense, means a1l

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the territory of the People's Republic of China, includin g ils territorial sea, in
which the Chinese laws re lating to taxation apply, and any area bcyond ils
territorial sea, within which the People's Republic or China has sovereign righl5
of exploration fo r and exploitation of resources of the seabed and its 5ub-soil
and supcrjacent water resources in accordance with international law and ils
domestic law;
1 (b) "the Argentine Republic" means ail the territory of Ihe Argentine Republic,
ij within the scopc of its sovereignty, encompass ing ilS continental land; territorial
waters; and, pursuant to Public International Law and Argentine legislation, any
area beyond the territorial waters, incl ud ing the exclusive economic zone and
r the seabed and the subsoil , over which the Argentine Rcpublic exercises its
~ competence and sovereign rights for the exploration, expl oitation and
l, conservation of natural resources;
j (c) "Competent Authority" means:
! (i) in the case of the People's Repllblic orehina, the State Administration of
Taxati on o r its authori7.ed rcpresentatives; and
(ii) in the case of the Argentine Republic, the Federal Administration of
Public Revenues or ils authorizcd representatives;
(d) " in fonnation" means any fact, statement, document or record in whatever form ,
1.. necessary for the administration and cnforcement of the taxes covered herein;

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 (e) "information gathering measurcs" means judicial, rcgulatory or admini strative
laws and procedures enabling a Contracting Party to obtain and provide the
information requested;
(1) "national" means:
(i) in relation to the People's Republic of China, any individual possessing
the nati onality of the People's Republic of China;
(ii) in relation to the Argentine Rcpublic, any ind ividual possess ing the
nationality of the Argentine Republic;
(ii i) any company, partnership or association dcriving its status as such From
the laws in force in a Contracting Party;
(g) " person" means an individual , a compan y or any other cnti ty that is subjcct to
taxation as defi ned in the domestic law of each of the Contracting Parties;
(h) "company" means aoy body corporate or any entity that 1S trealed as a body
corporate for tax purposes;
(i) "collective investment fund or scheme" means any pooled investment veh ic\e,
irrespective of ils Icgal form;
Gl "publ ic collective investment fu nd or scheme" means any collective in vestment
fund or scheme in wh ich the purchase, sale or redemption of shares or other
interests is not implicitiy or explicitly restricted to a limited group of investors;
(k) "publ icly traded company" means any company whose principal class of shares
is listed on a recognised slock exchange prov ided its listed shares can be readily
purchased or sold by the public. Shares can be purchased or sold "by the public"
if the purchase or sale of shares is not impl icitly or explicitly restricted to a
limited group of investors; and for this purpose, the terrn "principal class of
shares" means the class or cl asses of shares represenling a majority of the vot in g

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power and value of the company. For the purposes of this subwparagraph the
term "recogni sed stock exchange" means:
(i) in the People's Républ ic o f China:

! the Shanghai Stock Exchange or the Shenzhen Stock Exchan ge;

(ii) in the Argentine Republic:
~ the Boisa de Comercio de Buenos Aires or the Mercado de Valores de
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Buenos Aires Sociedad An6ni ma;
(iii) any other Stock Exchange whi ch the Competent Authoritîes agrcc to
recognize for the purposes of thi s sub-paragraph ;
i (1) "Requested Party" means the Party to this Agreement which is requested to
provide or has provided information in response to a request;
(m) "Rcquesting Party" means the Party to this Agreem ent submi tt ing a requcst fo r
or having received information from the Requestcd Party;
1 (n) "lax" means any lax covered by this Agreement

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2. As regards the application ofthis Agreement at any lime by a Contractin g Party,
any term not defined therein shall , unless the context otherwise requires, have the
meaning that it has at that time under the law of that Contracting Party, any meaning

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under the applicable tax laws of that Contracting Party prevailing over a meaning given
to the term under other laws ofthat Con tracting Party. 1!
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 ARTICLES
EXCHANGE OF INFORMATION UPON REQUEST

1. The Competent Authority of the Requested Party shaH provide upon requesl in
writîng information for the purposes referred 10 in Article 1. Such information sha1l be
1 exchanged wilhout regard to whether the conduct bcing învestigated would constitute a
1 tax otTence under the laws of the Requested Party if 5uch conduct occurred in the
territory orthe Requested Party . If the information rcceived by the Competent Authority
1 of the Requested Party is not sufTicient to enable il to compl y with the request fo r
information, il shaH advisc the Competent Authority of the Requesting Party of thaï faet

i and request 5uch additional infonnation as may be required to cnable the effective
processing of the request.

2. [[the information in the possession of the Competent Authority orthe Requested

1 Party is not suflicient to enable il to comply with the request for the information. the

! Requested Party shaH use ail relevant information gathcrin g measures to provide the
Requesting Party with the infonnation requested, notwithstand in g that the Requested
Party may not nccd such information for its own truc purposes.

1 3. If specifically requested by the Competent Authority ofthe Requesting Party, the

! Competent Authority orthe Requested Party shall provide information under this Article,
to the extent allowable under ils domestic laws, in the farm of deposition s of witnesses
and authenticatcd copies of original records.

4. Each Contracting Party sha1l ensure that ils Competent Authority, for the

1 purposes ofthis Agreement, has the authority 10 obtai n and provide upon request: "

!! (a)

(b)
infonnation held by banks, other finan cial institutions, and any person,
including nominees and trustccs, acting in an agency or fiduciary capacity;
information rcgarding the ownership of companies, partnerships, trusts,
foundation s and other persons, including, within the constraints of Article 2,
ownership infonnatÎon on ail such persons in an ownership chain ; in the case of
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trusts, information on settlors, trustces and beneficiaries, and where applicable,
those persons to whom the trust property title is transferrcd at the expiration of
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the trust; and in the case of foundations , information on founders, members of
the foundation council and beneficiaries. l'
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" 5. Notwithstanding the precedi ng paragraphs, this Agreement does not create an

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obligation on the Contracting Parties to obtain or provide ownership information wÎth
respect to publicly traded compan ies or public collective investment fund s or schemes,
unless such information can he obtaincd without giving rise 10 di sproportionate
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dimculties.

6. 'The Competent Authority of the Rcquesting Party shaH provide the following 1;
information to the Com petent Authority of the Requested Party when making a req uest
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 for information under this Agreement in order to demonstrate the foreseeable relevance
of the information to the request:

(a) the identity of the person or persons under exam ination, inspection or
investigation;
(b) the period for which the information is rcqucsted ;
(c) the nature and type of the information requested, including a description of the
information and/or specifi e evidence sought, and the form in which the
Requesting Party would prefer to receive the information;
(d) the lax pllrposes for wh ich the information is sought;
(e) grollnds for bel ieving that the information requestcd is present in the territory of
the Requested Party or is in the possession or control of a person slIbject 10 the
jurisdiction of the Requestcd Party ;
(1) to the extent known, the name and address of any person believed to he in
possession or control of the information requested ;
(g) a statement that the request 1S in confonn ity w1th this Agreement and the laws
and admin istrative practices of the Requesting Party, and that if the requested
information were with in the jurisdiction of the Requesting Party then the
Competent Authority of the Requesting Party would be able to obtain the
information under the laws of the Requesting Party or in the norma l course of
administrative practicc;
(h) a statement that the Rcquesting Party has pursued ait means available in its own
territory to obtain the information, except those that would givc rise to
disproportionate difficulties.

7. The Competent Authority of the Requested Party shall forward the requested
information as promptly as possible to the Competent Authority of the Requesting Party.
To ensure a prompt response, the Competent Authority orthe Requcsted Party shal1:

(a) immediately confirm receipt of a request in writing to the Competent Authority

of the Requesting Party and shaH notify the Competent Authority of the
Requesting Party of deficiencies in the request, if any, within sixt Y (60) runnin g
days of rcceipt of the request;
(b) provide the requested information to the Competent Authority of the Requesting
Party within a maximum pcriod of ninety (90) running days as of rece ipt of the
request; and
i (c) immediatel y inform the Competent Authority of the Requcsting Party,
~ explaining the reason for its inability, the nature of the obstacles or the reasons

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for its refusai , if the Competent Authority of the Requested Party has been
unable to obtain and provide the information within ninety (90) running days of
1 receipt of the requesl, including if it encounters obstacles in furni shing the
information or it refuses to furni sh the information.
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 ARTICLE 6
TAX EXAMINATIONS OR INVESTIGATIONS ABROAO

1. The Requested Party may, in accordance with ils domestic laws, fol1owing
receipt of notÎce ofa reasonable time From the Requesting Party, aHow representatives of
1 the Competent Authority of the Requesting Party to enter the territory of the Requested

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Party in connection with a request to interview persans and exam ine records with the
prior written con$ent of the persons concemed. The Competent Authorities of the
Contracting Parties shall agrec on the lime and prace of the Întcnded meeting with the
~ persons concemed.

2. At the rcquest of the Competent Authority of the Requesting Party, and in

accordance with its domestic laws, the Competent Authority of the Requested Party may
permit representatives of the Competent Authority of the Requesting Party to be present
at the tax examination in the territory of the Requested Party.

3. If the request rcferred to in paragraph 2 is granted, the Competent Authority of

the Requested Party condueting the exam ination shaH, as soon as possible, notify the
Competent Authority of the Requesting Party of the lime and place of the cxamination ,
the authority or person authorised to earry out the examination and the procedures and
conditions required by the Requested Party for the conduct or the exam ination. Ali
decisions regarding the conduct of the examination shal! bc made by the Requesled Party
eondueting the examinalion in accordance with its domestie laws.

ARTICLE 7
POSSlBILlTY OF OECLINING A REQUEST

1. The Competent Authority of the Requested Party may deeline to assist:

(a) where the request is not made in confonnity with Ihis Agreement;
(b) where the Requcsting Party has not pursued ail means available in its own
Icrritory 10 oblain Ihe information, except where recourse to sueh menns would
give rise to disproportionate diffieulty; or
(e) where the diselosure of the information requested would be conlrary la the
publ ie poliey (ordre public) ofthe Requesled Party.

2. This Agreement shaH not impose upen a Conlracting Party any obligation to
provide information whi ch would disclose any trade, business, industrial, commercial or
professional secret or trade process. Information described in paragraph 4 of Article 5
shaH not by reason ofthat faet alone eonslitllte sueh a secret or process.

3. A rcquest for information shall not bc refused on the ground thal the tax liability
giving rise to the requcst is disputed by the taxpaycr.

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4. The Requested Party sha1l not be required to obtain and provide in formation
which, if the requested information was within the jurisd iction of the Requesting Party,
the Competent Authority of the Requesting Party wou ld nol be able to obtain under ilS

1 laws or in the normal course of administrative practice.

5. The Requested Party may decline a request fOf in formation if the information is
requested by the Rcquesting Party to administer or enforce a provision of the lax law of
1, the Requesting Party, or any rcquircmcnt connected therewith, wh ich discriminates
against a national of the Requesled Party as compared with a nati onal of the Requestin g
! Party in the same circumstances.
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~ ARTICLE 8
r CONFIDENTIALITY

il t. Ali information provided and receivcd by the Competent Authorities of the

Controcting Parties shaH be treated as confidential in the same manner as information
obtained under its domestic legi slation; or according to the confidentiality conditions

Il applicable in the jurisdiction of the Contracting Party that provides such information if
the laller cond itions arc more restrictive and shall he disclosed only 10 persons or
authorities (inc\udi ng courts and adm inistrative bodies) in the jurisdiction of the
Contracting Parties officially conccmed with the purposes specified in Article 1 and uscd
by soch persans or authorities ooly for such purposcs, inc1uding the detcrmination ofany
1 appeat. For these purposes, information may be disc[osed in public court procecd ings or
inj udicial proceedings.

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1i 2. The information may not be used for any purpose other than for the purposes
stated in Article t and may not be disclosed to any other person or entity or authority or
any other juri sdiction wi thout the express wriuen consent of the Competent Aulhority of
the Requested Party.
i ARTICLE 9
SAFEGUARDS
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~1 The rights and safeguard s secured to persons by the laws or administrati ve practiccs of

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the Requested Party remain applicable. The Requested Party shall use its best endeavours
to ensure that the effective exehange of information is not unduly prevcntcd or delayed .
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ARTICLE 10
ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS

Un less the Competent Authorities of the Parties otherwise agrec, ordinary costs ineurred
~ in providing assistance shal1 be borne by the Requested Party, and extraordinary costs in
1 providing ass istance (ineluding eosts of engaging externa l advisors in conncetion w;th
litigation or otherwise) shall be borne by the Req uesting Party. The respective Competent
Authorities shaH consult from lime to lime wilh regard to this Article, and in partieular
1 the Competent Authority of the Requestecl Party shall consult with the Competent
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 Authority of the Requesting Party in advance if the costs of providing information wÎth
respect to a specifie req uest are expecled 10 be sign ificant.

ARTICLE Il
LANGUAGES

Requests for assistance and responscs thereto shall be in English.

ARTICLE 12
MUTUALAGREEMENT PROCEDURE

1. Where difficulties or doubts or controversies ari se between the Contracting

Parties regarding the implementation or Interpretation of this Agreement., the respective
Competent Authorities shall use their best efforts to resolve the matter by mulual
agreement.

2. In addition to the endeavours rcfcrred to in paragraph 1, the Competent

Authori ties of the Contracting Parties may mutually detennine the procedures to be used
under Articles 5 and 6 as weil as those mattcrs related to costs covercd under Article 10
herein.

1 3. The Competent Authorities of the Conlracting Parties rnay communicate with

~ eaeh other directly for the purposes ofthis Agreement.
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4. The Contracting Parties may also agrce in writing on other rorms of di spute
resolution.

ARTICLE 13
ENTRY INTO FORCE

11 The Contracting Parties shall notify cach other in writing thal they have comp leted the
internai legal procedures necessary for the entry into force of this Agreement. This
Agreement shall enter into force on the thirtieth day upon receipt of the latter notification.
This Agreement sha ll have effect in respect of taxable years beginning on or after the
1 date of entry into force .

ARTICLE 14
TERMINATION
1.
1. This Agreement shaH remain in force until terminated by either Contract ing
Party through a written communication sent ta the ather Contracting Party via diplomatic
channel.
1 2. Such termination shall become effective on the firsl day of the month fol1owing
the expiration of a pcriod of six months aCter the datc of receipt of notice of termination
by the other Contracting Party.

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 3. If this Agreement is tenn inated, the Contracting Parties shall remain bound by
the provisions of Article 8 with respect to any information obtained under this Agreement.
Ali requests received up to the effective date of termination shall he dealt with in
accordance with the tenns ofthis Agreement.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the undersigned, being du ly authorised by the respective

Contracting Parties, have signed th is Agreement.

DONEat 3<riiinf, indupl icateth is

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in the Spanish, Chi nese and Engli sh languages, a il texts being equally authentic. In case
of divergence of interpretation, the Engl ish text shal l prevail.

FOI" thc Gover nme nt of the For Ih e Governm ent of the

Argentine Repu blic Peoplc's Republic of C hina

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